Horse With No Name
by LadyGenkai
Summary: Crashed a desert planet, Sora and Riku must find a way to survive in the wild while fleeing their greatest enemy... Kairi
1. Chapter 1

Horse With No Name

* * *

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Summary - Fleeing for their lives on a desert planet, Sora and Riku must find a way to survive in the wild while fleeing their greatest enemy -- Kairi

* * *

Author's Note - I might as well say it right here. There will be no yaoi. This is not a guy/guy fic.

* * *

"Hey, Riku." 

Riku kept his eyes closed. He was lying face down in sand, a feeling not so hard to place having lived next to the ocean most of his life. He shifted his weight and pushed himself up on one hand, grimacing as he did so. There were cuts all over his body and thousands of grains of sand were imbedded into each one.

"Riku!"

Riku felt a hand grab his shoulder, steadying him before he could fall back down. Another hand started to rub the sand away from his eyes. But Riku didn't need his eyes to know who was talking to him.

"Sora...,"

"Can you walk?"

Convinced the sand was now away from his eyes, Riku chanced opening them. Unfortunately, this sand was very fine, the annoying kind that found a way to get into everything and took forever to brush off. Sora hadn't gotten it all. Riku found himself blinking a thousand times and looking through squinted eyes. The world was dark. A full moon hung high in the sky and a bitter wind swept in from the east. Not fifteen feet away was the blazing remains of King Micky's gummie ship. And then there was Sora, standing in front of him.

Sora offered a hand. The dancing flames happily eating their gummie ship into nothing but hot melted plastic cast an unsteady light on his left side, giving him an etheral look.

"Can you walk?" Sora repeated.

"My legs are broken."

Sora's hand fell. So did his hopeful expression. He sat back in the sand and rubbed his head, at a complete loss of what to do.

"Pitiful," Riku stood up, "you've gotta learn sarcasm someday, Sora. I've been trying to teach you, but you're such a dimwit."

"Oh, good!"

That wasn't exactly the reaction Riku had expected.

"Come on, we've gotta go before they come back!" Sora grabbed Riku's hand and started dragging him along, running away from the crash site.

"Whoa!" Riku broke free, causing Sora to stop and grab for his hand again, which Riku easily slapped away, "What's the hurry? There are thing we'll need back in the gummie ship."

"They'll be back!" Sora yelled. Adrenaline and desperation, coupled with being way too energetic in the first place, made Sora's declaration come out as both a plea and a demand. So what he meant was: _We are leaving now, Riku...please._

Riku took one look at his friend, and started to run. Sora was quick to follow.

Riku slowed down as the light from the fire was left behind. They had only the moon to guide them now, and, silly as it was, they needed to hold hands so they wouldn't loose each other in the growing darkness. And it was getting darker. Much darker.

_It's always darkest before dawn_, so they say. But Riku knew as well as Sora did that this darkness was not natural.

Of their own violation, Riku's muscles tensed, preparing for an upcoming fight. And then he fell.

And sank.

"Riku!" Sora's grip tightened on Riku's hand. He had run straight into quicksand, and was over three feet from hard ground. Sora was stretched over the death trap, face turned to one side so he could breath, his knees and down the only part of him on solid ground. And Riku was sinking. He had already let go of Sora's hand. Sora, however, held on tight.

"Sora."

"Hold on, Riku, I've still got some leverage here. I'll pull you out!"

"Sora, I think--"

"Shut up! Don't even think about saying it! I'm still on ground, I'm gonna pull you out. NO, I will not let go of your hand!! You melodramatic, emo little--"

"I was going to say, if you let go, I'll just blizzaga a path in the sand and claw my way out, but hey! if you're way seems better, you go for it."

Sora stared at him. "Oh."

Riku nodded. "Oh. Now let go."

Sora let go and pulled himself to solid ground.

"Good, now I can die in peace."

"Riku!"

"I'm joking, Sora, geez. Blizzga!"

Nothing happened. Riku looked at his free hands in confusion. He was already shoulder deep in the quicksand, and sinking fast. He tried again. It didn't work. He looked at Sora. Maybe he was out of magical power... Sora tried. It didn't work.

"Use an ether!" Riku said as his shoulders were consumed.

"I don't have any! They were all in the ship!" Sora had other options, though, and was already stretching across.

"Ethers wouldn't do you good, anyway."

Sora's eyes widened at the sound of the new voice. He knew, though he couldn't explain how, that this was the darkness that had been following them. Realizing his prone possition, he changed direction suddenly and tried to get his footing on solid ground. It did no good. He was kicked into the quicksand alongside Riku, whose neck and chin had already gone under. He gave one last call to Sora before going under entirely.

"Riku!"

As if on cue, a globe of darkness surrounded Sora, pushing him under the sand faster, unsatisfied with the already alarming pace at which he was sinking. The last thing he heard was the Voice, calm and cold, continueing its explaination.

"Magic doesn't work here."

* * *

Author's Note - This is my first fanfic, so I'd appreciate feedback. Good? Bad? Tell me what you think. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - I only have a very basic sketchy plan for this story, and it's all in my head. So, nothing in here is really very solid. This chapter is pretty much here just to buy me time to try and figure out what my next move is. I've put it in Sora's PoV...kinda. The last one was more Riku PoV. I'm experimenting with everything, my writing style, the characters, etc. I'll find something solid to go by, eventually. My "niche." Until then, thanks for reading.

* * *

Home. Mom. Dad. Wakka. Selphie. Riku. ...Kairi. Each face flashed before his closed eyes as the weight from the quicksand pressed down upon Sora and dragged him from the air above. He told Riku once that the worst death he could imagine was suffication. Go figure. 

The palace. The mansion. The gardens. The tunnels. The ocean. The treehouse. ...The raft. What was this? Was his life flashing before his eyes? It had better hurry. These images were just the beginning. They were the happy times. Nothing like what came after. What came after would take a much longer time to flash through. He'd be dead before his life finished flashing, darn it! Probably wouldn't even get to see a light at the end of a tunnel with the way things were heading. He'd sufficate long before then. He imaged his face was turning blue right about now.

The quicksand was pressed into his ears and trying to get past his tightly closed eyelids. He couldn't hear a thing, couldn't see a thing, couldn't feel anything but the sand in all directions. The thought and feeling of just being in a tight, closed in place frightens a lot of people. Sora never did mind. He used to empty the tupperware cabnet in his house when he was a kid. He remembered throwing out the plastic bowls and lids so he could crawl inside and just sit there, flash light in hand, reading a book...

_I'm going to die._

Kairi's image found its way into his mind. _You should_, she was saying, _after what you did to me_.

He hit the bottom of the sand trap. With nothing underneath him, the weight from all the sand piled on top of him, threatening to crush him to death before he could sufficate. Ever optimistic by nature, Sora took a small amount of comfort in this. Anything but suffication.

_But, Kairi, I didn't..._

Sora lost consciousness.

* * *

"Hey, Sora." 

Sora kept his eyes closed. He was lying face up on a hard floor. An annoying pebble ruined the otherwise comfortable possition and pressed against his spine. He shifted his weight to get rid of it, frowning as he did so. Silly pebble.

"Sora."

That would be Riku. He sounded impatient.

"Go way, Riku. Donna like you now. Silly pebble."

Now Riku was laughing. Sora _hated_ it when Riku laughed at him.

"Now you listen here," he said, forcing his eyes open and sitting up. He soon regretted it. The world began to spin. For a moment everything was a blur of black walls and Riku's white hair.

Riku put a hand on Sora's shoulder, steadying his friend before he passed out again. This was the third time Sora had woken up, and Riku was determined to keep him awake this time.

"Riku," Sora said, the world coming into focus. "Riku, what happened?" He took a look around as he spoke. They were in a strange chamber with black jagged walls and an uneven floor. Light was coming from something, but he couldn't tell where. The black walls were mirror like. Sora found himself staring at his warped reflection on a wall far to his right. "Where are we?"

"We hit the bottom, remember?" Riku said, he was toying with the idea of telling Sora they were dead, but one look at those huge, innocent, frightened blue puppy dog eyes kept his teasing side at bay. Sora was scared. They both were. Near death experiences could do that to a person. He'd tease him later. "Look up. We fell through that."

Sora followed Riku's gaze to the ceiling. Twenty feet above them was one of the most extraordinary things he'd ever seen. The quicksand was still there, a huge circle hanging above them, but it didn't pour down on them. It hung there, as if by magic, moving around in a slow clockwise motion. But that was just the backround. A spider the size of a boulder sat in the middle, exotic designs splashed across its back, holding onto an invisible web.

Riku narrowed his eyes. "It crawled into position after we fell through. I think it normally stays there, waiting for something to fall into the trap and hit the bottom, then it reaches up and grabs it before it falls through. It was about to grab me when you fell on top of me and pushed us through. It couldn't hold us both, so we fell. We got lucky."

"Okay," Sora nodded quickly in understanding, not really caring about the details at the moment. He was alive, there was a spider the size of an island nearby, it was time to go. He walked away as fast as his tired legs would carry him.

"Noooo you're not." Riku caught the back of Sora's shirt and yanked him back. Another spider appeared in the place where Sora had just been, clacking its teeth together in disappointment. Riku pulled a stunned Sora back into the middle of the room, the spider moved back into the shadows with each step Riku made.

"The cave's full of 'em," Riku explained, "you can't walk far without them herding you in again. They want us in the middle."

Sora sat down in resignation. "That's it, then. They're going to eat us. We're going to die. Got any paper, Riku? I need to write my will."

Riku smacked Sora upside the head. "Don't be such a dimwit! Come on, Sora, I thought you were stronger than that. It's just a few spiders. I'm sure I could take a few out, but there might be a lot more. I didn't want to try it without you. Now get ready."

"But, Riku, we can't use magic."

"Yeah, I kinda figured that out."

"No, Riku, you don't get it. We can't use magic! We're going to die!"

"I find it hard to believe that I'm being the optimistic one here, Sora. Get off your butt and help me fight these things."

"RIKU! I can't summon my Keyblade!!!"

For a long moment, the chamber was silent.

"We're going to die," Riku said.

Sora was busy with a sharp rock, scratching words into the floor. A will had to be written. "I'll leave Wakka the raft," he said.

* * *

Author's Note - If you see something exceptional (or horribly bad) let me know, will ya? 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - I needed henchmen. This chapter focuses mostly on them. Don't worry, I doubt you'll get bored. ;P

* * *

"Ethers wouldn't do you good, anyway," he taunted. "Magic doesn't work here." 

The look on Sora's face was priceless. The look that shows you know you can't get out of the situation, and you're going to pay for it. The fearful look. The alarmed look. Axel called it the 'Oh, shit' look. It was nice to see it on Sora's face for a change.

If only Axel had been here to see it.

Roxas stood staring at the quicksand where the last spike of Sora's brown hair had just gone under. "Too easy," he muttered quietly. The wind picked up and ruffled his clothes, the only movement in an otherwise still wasteland. He turned to go.

"Did you do it?" a timid voice said from behind. Roxas turned back around. It was Namine. She was standing on the other side of the pit, fidgeting with her hands nervously. The last traces of a dark portal faded away behind her.

"Come on around, Namine," he ordered. She obeyed. Namine always obeyed.

Standing in front of him, she repeated her question. "You...did it?"

"Yeah. I did it."

"Kairi will be happy."

"But not you."

Namine turned away so he couldn't see her eyes. "What makes Kairi happy makes me happy," she said. To say anything else was equivalent to betrayal.

_Yeah right_. Roxas poked her in the forehead, pushing her back a step, and getting that cute little angry pout out of her. "They're gonna see right through you someday," he warned playfully.

"I don't want him dead!" Namine plurted.

Roxas shrugged. "You don't have a choice in the matter."

"But...but...," moisture formed in the corners of her eyes. She ran up to the edge of the sandpit. "We can save him!"

Roxas put a hand around her waist and held her, afraid she'd do something emotional and girly...like jump in.

"Even if we wanted to, we couldn't do anything. Magic doesn't work here, Namine. Not even yours. Come on. We should leave."

Namine started to cry. Roxas tried his best not to roll his eyes.

"You shouldn't try to take advantage of a young woman like that. Especially when she's so emotionally vulnerable."

Across the pit, where Namine had been standing only moments before, was a red-cloaked man. He had short black hair and wore the most ridiculous star shaped 'hip hop' glasses with glitter purple rims. The rest of his outfit was, thank God, hidden beneath the cloak.

Roxas blinked, truly surprised for the first time in years. That moment of staring stupidly cost him. The cloaked man pulled out a purple rod, glittering like his glasses, and struck at him, letting out an "Aha! Take this, villian!" as he did so.

Blue eyes narrowed as battle instinct kicked in. Roxas rolled away. The rod swished by, hitting nothing but air. Getting his footing, Roxas twisted himself back around, ready to charge at his enemy. But nobody was there. Nobody. Nothing. Roxas turned himself around in circles, ready for a surprise attack. It was dark still, and the moon didn't help him to see at all, but Roxas had lived in the twilight most of his life. He practically was darkness. He didn't need the sun to see Red Cloak work his way up a dune.

The cloaked man gave one last call, posing at the top of the sand hill, "It's too late, foul villian! Ye creature of darkness! Ye dirty garbage boy! Thou shalt not defile this fair maiden!!! Hahahahahahaha!"

Namine gave one terrified cry to Roxas, and then the two disappeared down the other side.

Roxas climbed the hill as fast as he could. He got to the top, looked around, and saw...nothing but sand in all directions. He forced his jaw to close, it had somehow dropped down in something akin to stunned disbelief. Only one thing could be said at a time like this.

"What the hell?!?!!!!"

* * *

Momka Grimna was old. For uncounted years she bit and clawed her way to the top, more often than not using trickery and deception to force down her rivals. Now, lying on her stomache in her private lair, lazily toying with her latest prey, Momka Grimna smiled at the memory of those days. In those days, many races of spiders roamed the caves, each keeping to its territory, each climbing to the top of its own chain, each getting eaten by its mother in the end. Yes. She remembered. Old mommy dearest didn't have as good of luck with her. 

The clacking of spider feet on stone could be heard long before the messanger enter the room. "Mistress!" was its low-pitched cry, broken and uneven in tone. It must've been Dela Even. He was one of the few lower class imbecils who could talk.

Grimna lifted up her head. That part of her was humanoid, along with her arms, and everything down to her waist where skin melted into the mirror like body of a Black Widow. One of her wickedly angeled legs tapped in impatience.

"Speak," she commanded, too lazy to say anything more.

Evan clacked his teeth together in excitement, "Humans, mistress! Humans have entered our domain!"

Momka Grimna's mouth curled up in disgust at this statement. These lower class spiders made good minions, but they came up with such lies! She considered eating the poor messanger right there. A wicked smile came to her lips.

Even recognized the danger he was in immediately. He had seen many other spiders die moments after Momka Grimna made a face like that. He prostrated himself on the floor, as best a spider can, and said, "It is truth, mistress! It is truth! Look to the crystal. The crystal, mistress!"

Grimna had heard enough. She was quite prepared to eat him. Lifting herself up, she streatched her legs to their full length. The crystal mirror, ten feet at least in diameter and not any particular shape, reflected her image as she got ready to pounce. Evan was slowly backing out of the room. Now that the suggestion had been planted in her mind, though, Grimna found herself glancing toward the mirror. The surface shivered, and there, sure enough, was an image of two humans, newly fallen from the quicksand trap. She was pacified immediately. In a way.

"Humans!" she screamed. "Humans!!!"

The crystal mirror pulsed and a closer image of the two humans came into view, switching from one human's face to another as they talked.

Evan wisely made his exit while he still had the chance. Momka Grimna couldn't have cared less about the inferior creature. She smoothed her skin out, forcing her lower body into a humanoid shape, using an illusion technique that had been forgotten by most for millennia. She looked human now. She had even bothered to cloth herself, not that she felt she had to. They were males, after all. But it had been so long since she'd played the part. She smiled to herself and left her chamber. It was time to greet her quests.

It would be good to eat human again.

* * *

Author's Note - As always, I appreciate feedback. And thanks, everybody so far, for leaving me reviews. Oh! and thanks, FernClaw for pointing out my typo. I've fixed it. :) 


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Last chapter was more Roxas's point of view. Like I did with Riku and Sora, now I'm trying out Namine's PoV.

* * *

Namine started to cry. She felt Roxas tense up suddenly and hurried to still her sobs. Was he mad at her? Roxas got mad a lot when she cried, but she couldn't help it. Some things made her sad, and more often than not, those some things were caused by him. 

She felt a gush of wind and closed her eyes closed instinctively, protecting her from the sting of the sand. More tears were forced out as she did so. When she opened them she found the view had changed. Dramatically. For starters, Roxas was much farther away, crouched in the sand looking ready to pounce. The expression on his face was something between anger and incredulity, like he didn't quite believe what he was seeing and was none too happy about it.

And now, instead of being held, Namine felt she was being carried. What was going on? If Roxas was down there, then who...? She looked up to see.

Nobody. There was nothing there.

Nobody was carrying her!

She looked down, to the sides, everywhere she could in her position. There was no head, no arms, no feet, no chest, no nothing. Nothing! But she felt it. Somebody was holding her there, a strong arm was wrapped around her waist, her feet dangled two feet off the ground.

This was wrong. This was wrong. This was wrong.

"Roxas!" Namine screamed. And then Roxas wasn't there anymore. Her view had changed once again.

* * *

Sora shook his head. "I don't wanna." 

Riku approached with evil intent. "Don't worry, Sora, you won't get hurt." That wasn't entirely true.

Sora backed away quickly, shaking his head from side to side in defiance. "No, no, no, no." But there was only so far Sora could run. If he took one more step, the spiders would appear, if he didn't...

Riku made up Sora's mind for him. His left hand shot out clumsily, grabbing for Sora's arm. Sora fell for it like the big dope he was, dodging Riku's hand just to run into his other one.

Sora kicked and screamed as Riku dragged him over to a place almost directly below the spider on the ceiling. A thin cord hung there, almost invisible, a broken piece attatched to the web above them. Riku had tested it only moments before. It could hold his weight. So, in theory, he could've climbed the thing. But, in theory, so could Sora.

"You can't make me," Sora said, refusing to touch the cord when Riku placed him in front of it.

"Yes I can," Riku said, matter of factly.

"It was your plan, you do it!"

Riku scoffed, "Are you kidding me? There's a huge spider. I'm not going up there."

"Hey!"

Riku let Sora go. Sora spun on him, but quickly realized that without his keyblade, he didn't stand much of a chance. He settled for crossing his arms and looking mad instead.

Riku tried not to laugh. Sora was just like a puppy when he tried to look mad. He ruffled his friend's hair. Sora batted his arm away. Riku shrugged and sat down again. "It was just an idea."

_A bad idea_. Sora said to himself. _A really, really, really, really, really bad idea_. The idea had been, that if they couldn't move along the floor they could move along the ceiling. After all, the floor had a bunch of obsticles in the way, obsticles with spiders hiding behind them. The ceiling, however, was virtually flat. And there was only one spider on the ceiling.

So, naturally, someone had to climb up there and knock it off.

_Simple_. That's how Riku had put it. Simple. Sora had an almost overwhelming urge to slug him right there. But Riku's back was turned. That wouldn't exactly be fair...Sora picked up a small rock and threw it at him. Hard. It hit Riku in the back of the head. He turned to Sora and glared.

"What? Someone's throwing rocks or something," Sora said, putting on his huge innocent eyes. "Wasn't me." He was horrible at lying. He turned and walked off.

"Sora, you're a genius."

"What?" Sora turned around. Riku had a rock in his hand. For a moment, Sora thought he was going to throw it at him. But then he threw it at the ceiling. And hit the spider. It hissed and spun in its web to face them.

"Uh, Riku," Sora said.

Riku wasn't listening. "Alright, first shot." He picked up another rock. Another bull's eye.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea..."

The spider was really angry now. It opened its huge mouth and growled, yes growled, at them. Its siliva dripped down and hit the floor, sizzeling on the place it landed. Another rock hit it square in the belly. It had had enough.

It dropped down.

* * *

Her own blonde hair blocked her line of vision. Namine brushed it back impatiently. She was at the entrance to a cave now, a huge simicircle of dirt surrounded it. Outside of the simicircle was sand that stopped abruptly, unable to pass some unseen barrier. The sand was spotted with rocks, and a cliff loomed high to one side. The moon was covered by thin clouds. She felt something poke her side and jumped away. She wasn't alone. It poked her again and she threw her arm out in that direction, smacking something away. 

That's when she noticed the foot prints in the dirt. A few more appeared, as if a man was taking a step or two back. Then he knelt. The ground in front of her feet was wiped clear. She took a step back. A word was slowly being written in the dirt. Namine's eyes widened. She knew what the word was before the invisible figure finished. She turned and fled into the cave. The foot prints of the man quickly followed her.

The moon came out from behind the clouds, clearly illuminating the word on the ground.

Witch.

* * *

Author's Note - The chapters are pretty short. Sorry. It takes me about three hours to write this much. I'm sure I'll get faster once I get the hang of it, and then the chapters will get longer. Feedback is appreciated. :) 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Dear God, that's the second spider I've killed today. Here I am, innocently typing on my computer, and WHAM! (well, technically, not a noise was made, but hey...) a spider crawls up the wall next to me. What, like the one I killed in the sink wasn't enough? Geez. Anyway, I thought the whole situation was ironic with, you know, the whole spider-in-the-story thing. So, um...yeah. This chapter has a dramatically different style, I think. Thank God this is a test fic, or I'd be really mad with myself for throwing you guys around like that. Now I think it's kind of amusing. Be confused, "dear readers," be confused! Muwahaha.

* * *

Sora clung to the web on the ceiling and tried not to look down. He had already fallen from this distance once, when he came out of the quicksand, but he wasn't awake to feel it then, and damn it, he wasn't too sad about missing that experience. He carefully inched his way toward the nearest wall, having to yank his hands away just to get them unstuck from the web. It was a small comfort. Somehow, knowing that a sticky spider web was keeping you safely attatched to the ceiling and far from the waiting jaws of the self same spiders that had spun it was little consulation.

He chanced looking down. Yep, there there were, clacking in anger on the floor, waiting for them to fall. A few of them had tried climbing the walls, only to have a well aimed rock hit them back down. There weren't as many as Sora had originally thought. Barely a dozen. Riku, skillfully balancing the rocks in his shirt, sped past Sora like it was the easiest thing in the world. Sora glared at him, though Riku couldn't see it, and continued his snail pace.

_It's not the height I'm afraid of_, he told himself, _It's falling from it_.

Now, if Sora had undergone the experiences as told in Kingdom Hearts one and two, the author seriously doubts he'd ever be afraid of heights. The Peter Pan adventure is enough to convince anyone of that. But as it stands in this story, Sora had very different experiences altogether. He wasn't exactly a coward, but you might say certain experiences led up to one very obvious conclusion for him. It was better to avoid danger at all possible costs. Running away was not too low for him. And being afraid of heights was a fear he had no intention of ever facing down. Not willingly at least.

Riku found a perch on the wall and waited. A spider occasionally fell to one of his rocks. The trick was to hit them in the legs, and if he was careful enough he could hit two legs with one stone. Sometimes it took two, and he was running out of rocks.

"Hurry up, Sora."

Sora reached for the next cord. It was farther away than the others. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he stretched his arm out to grab it. "I'm hurrying," he said. He finally grasped the cord.

"There's a spider behind you," Riku lied. Sora's speed increased greatly. In moments he was beside Riku on the wall, looking for a spider that wasn't there. He glared at Riku, who smiled cockily in response. He even had the nerve to bloody laugh.

"Come on," Riku said, the amusement evident in his voice. It faded quickly as he continued, "There's an opening in the wall over there." He pointed to a small and uneven hole in the wall a short distance off. It looked like a broken window, sharp rocks pointed in. Sora couldn't see anything of the room beyond.

Getting there was surprisingly easy. The fact that Riku had run out of rocks had nothing to do with the speed and grace with which the two zipped through the opening. Nothing at all.

There was no web on this side. The jagged rocks of the opening were the only things to hold onto, and holding onto a sharp rock for support isn't exactly the smartest thing to do. Sora surprised Riku and was the first to let go. Riku heard a few muffled curses, Sora style (darn, bloody, tootin' stinkin'...darn), and then, "Come on down, Riku, the ground'll break your fall."

Riku judged the distance and leg go, landing gracefully on his feet. Sora glared at him. He'd been doing that a lot lately.

This chamber was considerably smaller than the last. It looked more like a tunnel, really, a passage to another larger chamber. The ceiling, however, was much higher than the last. Sora couldn't see the top. That same errie light that had lite the last chamber lite this one also, its source still unseen.

The noise of a spider's approach set Riku and Sora on the alert. Riku picked up another rock. Sora considered the logic in just running away before the spider turned the corner and saw them. The surprise was complete when a small girl with blonde hair wearing a white dress ran around the corner, not a huge ugly spider. Riku's rock fell from his hand.

The girl caught sight of them. "Help me!" she screamed and ran behind Riku, the more capable looking of the two, and clung to his shirt like a frightened child. "Don't let them eat me!"

That's when the spider appeared.

* * *

Roxas was pissed.

"Shut up, Axel."

Axel was unrelenting. "No, tell me again about how the crazy man in a red cloak kidnapped Namine. I love the part when you describe his glasses. Star shaped, you say? Glittering purple?" Axel burst out laughing. Again.

"I'm serious."

This just seemed to fuel Axel on more. He was rolling in the sand now. "Glittering purple," he said between laughs, "Are you sure you're not gay, Roxas?"

Oh, that did it.

Roxas unleashed what furry he could without his keyblades. Axel still had his weapons, albeit they weren't on fire, but he was laughing too hard to use them. Now he was laughing harder at Roxas's attempts to put him in a headlock. The kid was virtually useless without magic. Why'd Kairi choose to send him to this planet in the first place, anyway?

That was when Axel made the classic mistake. He underesteemated his opponent. Roxas kicked him in between the legs. Axel doubled over. It was pretty easy to put him in a headlock after that.

Roxas said, "Now listen here. Namine really has been kidnapped. YES, that's what the freak looked like, YES that's why I called you here," and here he muttered something about saving himself the humiliation by choosing to call Axel, his friend, and not one of the other members of the Brotherhood, and a bunch of other crap that Axel paid no attention to as he was thinking if it was somehow possible to use this situation as blackmail. Roxas yanked Axel back to reality. "And YES you will listen to what I have to say."

"Alright, alright," Axel said in a pacifying tone. "Namine's been kidnapped. You want her back, I get it. Now get off." Roxas didn't let go. "Get off!"

Suspicious, but somewhat satisfied, Roxas let Axel go. Axel collected himself and rubbed the sand off of his black coat.

"Now," Axel began, "Tell me again what color 'rod' he had, and how fast he 'swung' it at you."

"I'm gonna kick your ass."

Even when he was back in a headlock, Axel couldn't keep from laughing.

* * *

Author's Note - Yeah...I'd say the style is _quite_ different. But then, this is the first time I've written a chapter in the morning. What do you guys think, is it better? Worse? What? It's not like this is a ploy for more reviews, or anything. ;P 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Guess who's PoV this first half of this chapter is centered around. ;)

* * *

She watched the ensueing fight with clasped hands and an eager posture. Someone was saving her! She couldn't even remember the last time someone had done that. 

The tall one with the white hair was thrown back halfway across the narrow passageway. He hit the wall hard, but he pulled himself together with a grunt and threw himself back into the fray. He had found a makeshift weapon, a long sharpened stone that served as somewhat of a dagger. However crude it was, it seemed to be working. The spider he was fighting already had one leg cut off with another dangling by a thread. Seeing this, the white haired one jumped to the side and stabbed, forcing the spider to use that leg as support. It broke off with an audible snap. The boy smirked. The spider roared. And the deadly dance continued.

The smaller boy, on the other hand, the one that looked vaguely familiar, had an altogether different plan. This boy had three spiders to deal with, but they were of another species. A lower race of spider, and their size showed it. Whereas the boy with the white hair had a huge, exotic, evily shaped, brightly colored spider to deal with, the cute little guy had three of the weakest spiders this place could offer. They were brown. To put it simply, they were brown. And small. Brown and small.

And slow. The spikey haired kid was taunting them. Running off ahead just to turn around and make faces at them, calling them the sons of pigs, whatever that meant, and sticking out his tongue. Those particular spiders were too stupid to understand, but they were mad at how their prey kept getting away and hissed at him whenever they got the chance. Continueing this way, the kid led them in circles. The spiders weren't smart enough to split up and cut him off in between them.

Meanwhile, sweeping aside the blonde hair that had fallen across her face, she could see that Mr. White Hair had just killed his spider. That was...impressive. It curled up into a tight ball on the floor, nerves jerking the dead body occasionally, and didn't look nearly as menacing as it did with all its legs spread out. It took her a moment to notice he was looking at her. She gasped and moved behind a rock, out of sight.

But she was still watching. With the big spider now dead, it was an easy thing for the two boys to take out the other spiders. Spikey looked rather disappointed when his companion stepped on his spiders, easily squishing their smaller forms with his foot. "They were MY spiders!" he protested. Mr. White Hair didn't seem to care.

Turning to the rock she hid behind, he said, "You can come out now."

Tenatively at first, she did come out. Her pale hands played nervously with her white dress while they scrutinized her.

"Thank you," she said quietly, looking down. She felt a hand on her chin, forcing her to look into Mr. White Hair's eyes.

"There's no need to be scared," he said matter of factly. "We won't hurt you, and the spiders are gone."

"I..I'm sorry," she stuttered. "It's just that I, well, I ran into this cave, and then it got darker, and the spiders appeared...and...and..."

"Into the cave?" he asked, sharing a quick look with his companion, "There's an opening? Do you remember how to get back there?"

"Well, yes," she said. They both looked relieved. "But you can't get out!" she quickly added, "A hoard of spiders block the way."

"What do you think?" White hair asked Spikey.

Spikey, optimism restored now that his friend seemed to be able to easily kill the things, was quick to agree to the idea. Leave spider cave. Enter endless desert in the dead of night with no food or water or general way to survive. It sounded good to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Riku by the way," White Hair said, finally introducing himself.

"And I'm Sora," Spikey added, shaking her hand emphatically.

"Grimna," she said cooly, innocently, "my name's Grimna."

* * *

"Well I'll be ----ing damned." 

Roxas barely glanced at his friend. He was used to the foul mouthed asshole. Speaking of which...

"You're an asshole," Roxas told him. He had been telling him this at every opportunity for the past hour. In fact, after every sentence Axel spoke, Roxas would call him an asshole. It didn't matter what he had said.

The two of them were hiding behind a dune, looking down at the opening to a cave. A cliff loomed high directly across from them, and the sand didn't seem willing to cross an unseen barrier around the cave's enterance. The ridiculous man in the Red Cloak had just pulled Namine out of the cave, crying and screaming. He dropped her and she immediately bolted for the cliff. He was behind her in the blink of an eye, dragging her back into the semi-circle of dirt. He dropped her there again, and she sat there, helpless, sobbing the same words over and over again.

"Can you hear what she's saying?" Axel asked.

"You're an asshole," Roxas answered, and began sneaking his way closer. Axel rolled his eyes and followed.

"Not a witch, not a witch, not a witch," Namine was saying. Her tears flowed freely.

"And so, in the name of Allah! And Jeff! And Murphy!" Red Cloak was saying, "I shall dispose of this foul creature, who posed as a fair maiden in distress to thwart thy humble servent. This Witch, this Evil One, this Weirdo!"

"What the fu..." Axel began, none too quietly. Roxas slapped a hand over his mouth.

"We should get in closer," he whispered. "Flank him. Be careful, this one's fast. You take this side, and I'll take the cliff side."

Axel nodded in understanding.

"And you're an asshole."

Axel flipped off his friend's retreating form. Roxas made his way to the cliff, disappearing from sight.

"And the love of Chocolate Pudding take this one from our world!" Red Cloak finished, grabbing a handful of sand and sprinkling it on Namine. Nothing happened. "Strange," he said, "that normally works."

That's when Axel caught sight of Roxas moving in from the cliff. It was time...wait a minute. Was that? It was! Axel's hands went to where he kept his weapons, but he knew they weren't there. Roxas was holding them.

That little shit.

* * *

Author's Note - Ha! I bet you didn't see that coming, did ya? Bet you thought that chick with Riku and Sora was Namine, didn't ya? Well, you were WRONG. 

I've been told I might want to add more creepy detail. I got that review after I made this chapter. I'll put it into practice in the next chapter. It'll be my little attempt at freaking you guys out.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Aaaaalirghty. Now to add more detail to make the spidies scare the crap outta ya. Actually, now that I'm on the whole 'detail' train of thought, I think I'll add more detail to the overall chapter. It'll be my 'testing detail abilities' chapter.

* * *

Step after step took the humans closer to her hoard of minions. She closed her eyes and invisioned the army that awaited them. The big oafs would be there, the exotic spiders, those boulder sized monstrosities that could nearly swallow a human whole. Well, maybe not whole. The head would be sticking out...or the feet...the fangs of the beasts ripping skin from body, the acidic saliva eating through bone. 

Grimna smiled at the beautiful thought.

Riku looked back, catching sight of the odd look on her face, but saying nothing of it, "Hey."

Grimna snapped out of her fantasies. "Oh," she said sweetly, tilting her head to the side for effect, "Yes?"

"Try to keep up, okay?"

Oh. She hadn't even noticed she had stopped. Wait, that's because she hadn't. Riku wasn't talking to her. Sora had, he was behind her, deadly still, listening hard.

They were traveling through an especially large passage, and thought it wise to keep her safely in between them. The reason for Spikey's stopping was a distant dripping noise. He apologized and rubbed the back of his head.

Sora was actually taking things much differently now that a girl had come along. He had never for a moment thought that he'd have to protect someone. He knew Riku could take care of himself, that was for sure. As if answering his thoughts, Riku showed his profile and shrugged at Sora. _Come on! I wanna get out of here, don't you? Stop daydreaming_, he was saying.

Grimna was looking at him now. She smiled. Sora found that disturbing, and he didn't know why. He smiled to cover the frown that was forcing its way onto his face. He was relieved when she turned back around and followed Riku. He grimaced at the uneasy feeling welling up in his heart.

_Something's wrong_.

* * *

It's not like he didn't have any upper body strength. Heck, swinging a giant key or two around was a lot of work. Those things were heavy! 

But he didn't have the luxery of summoning his keyblades at will here, and given the choice between using his own strength or Axel's chakrams, he'd choose the chakrams. It was so nice of Axel to lend them to him.

"Hmm. Maybe the river gods are upset with me," the Red Cloaked man mused, walking in circles around Namine. Roxas nearly fell over and ruined his cover. River gods? They were in the middle of a desert! According to all data they'd gathered about this world, there wasn't one river, let alone any major body of water, on the entire planet. Who was this guy?

That's when he caught sight of Axel across from the cave. He was glaring at him, promising a slow death later. Roxas smiled and waved.

But, hey, death glare aside, at least they were both in position.

"I know! I'll bake cookies for Grandmother Kitty!"

Alright, this guy was just weird. As if that conclusion was hard to come by. Roxas suddenly tensed when he saw what was in the weirdo's hand. A knife. It looked like he had just unsheathed it from his glittering purple rod.

And he was bringing it down on Namine.

Two things happened. One, Namine screamed. Two, Roxas tackled Red Cloak to the ground.

Roxas was rather good with the chakrams, Axel noted with disdain. Damn kid was probably good with any weapon he was given. It was only a matter of seconds until the cloaked man had been pinned to the ground, cut deep in some areas but not bleeding from any of the wounds. Roxas held a chakram to his throat.

Axel walked up casually.

"Hey, Namine."

Namine had hidden her face the moment she saw the shadow of a knife on the ground. Now she looked up. "Axel?"

The red haired man walked pass her without another word. He did, however, dispell her worries by winking at her.

"Done 'borrowing' my weapons?" Axel asked coldly.

Roxas's eyes didn't leave the strang man's. The man shivered involuntarily and prayed to the Queen of Green.

"No," Roxas said simply, "I'm not done yet." He pressed the chakrams in closer, cutting a thin line along the man's neck. There was no blood.

"Roxas."

"Not now, Namine."

Namine frowned. For having just rescued her, he sure was quick to fall back into the habbit of being mean to her again.

"But, Roxas..."

"Not now, Namine!" the chakrams pressed in deeper.

"I think you'd better listen to what she says," Axel said, unexpectedly sticking up for the blonde girl. He had good reason.

Namine didn't wait for the go ahead. "Roxas! There's no one there."

* * *

Author's Note - There wasn't any spidery action scene this time, so my awesome describing powers of DOOM had to wait in that respect. 


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Thank you, my reviewers. You doth rocketh. Your critisism and all around goodness doth maketh me feeleth goodeth and encourageth me...eth.

* * *

No one there. 

Roxas looked down on the man he had just tackled, only there was one problem. The man, for all the absurdity of it, just wasn't there anymore. Roxas's body, now no longer pinning the man down, fell the few inches to the ground. The chakrams burried into the dirt where Red Cloak's neck had been just a second before.

The stunned silence that would normally accompany such a scene was short lived.

"Hahahahaha. Hahahahaha. And again, I say HAHAHAHA, ye barbarian hoards!"

Roxas sprang to his feet at the sound of the familiar voice and threw one of the chakrams in its general direction. Unsurprisingly, it wizzed through the air and hit nothing but sand. Laughter followed the failed attempt.

And then an invisible hand picked up the fallen weapon. It twirled expertly in mid-air without a user.

"That's not good," Axel said, ever one to point out the obvious. Leaning against a wall just inside the cave entrance, examining his hands without interest, he didn't seem too concerned. "You gonna let him get away with that, buddy?"

Roxas was already angry. He didn't need Axel adding to it. "I don't know, you gonna help me out, 'buddy?'"

"Sure, 'pal,' but some idiot thought he'd borrow my weapons. How am I supposed to help - B U D D Y - without a weapon I can work with?"

Roxas didn't miss a beat, "We all know your current 'weapon' isn't functional, Axel, but don't you go begging for my help in _that_ area."

Now Roxas had two people to fight.

* * *

Namine's mouth dropped. How could they be fighting each other at a time like this? They were under attack, for Pete's sake! 

As if to emphasize her point, the invisible fighter drove his chakram in between the two just as the fight seemed to be shifting in Axel's favor. Yes, Axel definantly would have won that round. Sure, Roxas was on good ground to start with, having the only weapon between the two of them, but it seemed rather useless once Axel kicked Roxas in the groin. He was just moving to put him in a headlock when the invisible man made his move.

Axel jumped back quickly, and even had the decency to yell out a warning to his friend. Roxas, however, had already rolled away. He was having difficulty standing straight, however, and the following insult aimed at Axel, and having something to do with not needing his help, was rather high pitched and pathetic.

The chakram whirled around for another pass with a vocal "whooosh" coming from the madman. Namine could just imagine the man holding it there like a paper airplane, or other similar flying toy. What was more, this man didn't seem to have any problems with flying himself. The chakram often soared high into the air, making loops, but it was easy to tell it was still under the control of a hand. Sometimes, it would stop, twenty feet above the ground, and fan an invisible face.

"For musicians everywhere!" Red Cloak called, and the chakram came soaring down, aimed for Namine.

Roxas intercepted it. His own chakram pushed against his enemy's and the two were at a standstill.

"Namine, get inside!" Roxas ordered. Namine didn't need to be told twice. Roxas couldn't help but smile.

Namine always obeyed.

* * *

"Well, what do you think?" Grimna asked. "There are quite a few of them there." Her tone was losing much of its feigned sweetness as anticipation for the first human meal in centuries was finally staring her in the face. It was only waiting to be taken. Grimna held herself back, reminding herself how much sweeter things were with patience. She had set it up this way, after all, she might as well see her own plan through. 

Riku didn't notice her change in tone. He was to concerned with the amount of spiders they faced. There were at least twenty, and all of them huge. His sharp sea green eyes appeared blue in the dark as Grimna considered him. He paid no attention to her, though he felt her eyes boring into him.

Off on Riku's other side Sora peaked over the stone slab that served as their cover. It was an unremarkable piece of stone jutting out of the floor. There were plenty of them of lesser size scattered throughout the cavern. The huge spiders on the far end of the room stepped over them easily enough. They clicked and clattered in what Sora had dubbed "spidey talk" and occasionally fought with each other, the scuffle ending quickly and the spiders involved forgetting about it almost as soon as it had started.

"They're big oafs," Grimna commented with obvious disdain.

"Maybe their fighting will give us a chance," Sora offered.

Riku shook his head, "I wouldn't count on it. They'd notice us as soon as we tried for the other side. It wouldn't matter how busy they are fighting each other. We're more interesting to them."

Sora shrugged, "So we don't let ourselves get seen."

Grimna tried not to laugh. "There are other senses than sight," she said, and instantly regretted it. Freely offering information wasn't a trait she waited to nourish.

"That's what I'm afraid of. Spiders always seem to know when people are near."

Sora looked at Riku sceptically. Right, Riku was a spider expert now, huh? Oh, whatever. Riku was right about most everything, so he'd trust him in this. He bit his bottom lip and glanced over the cavern again. It wasn't that far, really. So twenty some spiders with really big teeth and spiney black hairy legs blocked the way. Big deal. Sora was looking beyond that to the moonlight spilling into the cave.

To freedom.

* * *

Author's Note - This was typed up pretty quickly. It's fun to see what I come up with, having little to no plot and all. I know the end of the story, sure, and I know I need to get there somehow. It's just the getting there that's the challenge. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Yeah, the chapters are kinda short, aren't they? (redundant question) I was kinda afraid of that from the start. I guess I could try to make them longer. Here's my shot at that. This chapter should be longer than normal. 

Also, I fixed a rather large problem in the last chapter. "Sunlight spilling into the cave" ...WTH. It's supposed to be night time out there. Oops. I changed it.

* * *

"Sora!" Riku hissed. "Sora, get back here!" 

Sora turned back just long enough to flash him one of his famous smiles, and then he was dashing forward again.

"He's gonna get himself killed," Grimna said in disbelief. The human was insane. No doubt they had both realized the situation was hopeless, but to run straight into a group of hungry giant spiders? It was suicidal. At least this other one seemed to have a head on his shoulders.

Riku looked to Grimna. "Stay here," he ordered.

Before Grimna could respond, Riku had jumped over the rock. Her mouth dropped. He would actually risk his life to save his foolish friend? They were both suicidal. Part of her illusion wavered as she watched the two of them run to their doom. One of her hairless black legs, tougher than rock and matching the glassy surface of the walls, tapped the floor in anoyance. If they kept this up, her stupid minions would eat them without a second thought.

There would be nothing left for her.

Growling, Grimna followed them, fixing her disguise as an after thought.

* * *

Axel couldn't help but be impressed. He sat down crosslegged in the dirt, watching Roxas and Psyco-Invisible-Man duke it out. Well, watching Roxas at least. 

The invisible man changed the direction of his chakram unexpectedly. Roxas ducked, narrowly avoided being decapitated.

Axel leaned forward in excitement. If only he had popcorn right now.

And then their weapons were pushing against each other. Roxas grimaced, unable to glare at his enemy as they pushed against each other in a test of strength. He could feel Red Cloak's breath against his face.

"_I_ eat my peas," the madman taunted.

Roxas pushed for all he was worth, unable to gain any ground. He glanced over at Axel, briefly considering asking for his help. He pushed the thought from his mind quickly, still mad at his friend. Axel could go screw himself. With a twist of his wrist and some fancy foot work, Roxas had his enemy back on the defensive.

Axel was completely absorbed with watching the fight. So when a soft gasp came from the cave, it was no surprise he didn't hear it. And when someone called his name, he didn't hear that either.

* * *

Sora grabbed onto another jutting rock and pulled himself over, dropping silently to the ground on the other side. He felt rather proud of that. He had traveled over half way across the cave in complete silence. 

Now he faced a new obsticle. The spiders themselves. They were still too far away for those 'other senses' Grimna was talking about to kick in and alert them of his presence, but they could still see, and Sora was in plain sight. He quickly ducked behind another rock. Luckily, the place was full of them. There's nothing like a conveniently placed rock jutting out of the floor to hide behind when you need it.

Now that he was here, though, the beauty of his plan started to kick in. Just a little bit longer and he could jump into action. A huge grin spread across his face, and he had to pinch himself to keep his concentration. This was serious, he reminded himself, serious. He could be happy later.

The grin creeped back across his face anyway.

He looked to his left and nodded. It was time. Just as he was about to jump out and reveal his truly genious plan, or lack thereof, to the world, a hand covered his mouth and yanked him back. Darn.

"You're insane!" Riku said into his ear. He didn't sound too happy. They both flattened themselves against the rock as a spider took notice of the noise. After a painful moment of staring at the exact place where Riku and Sora were hiding, the spider was satisfied, and went back to doing whatever hungry man eater spiders do on their time off.

Riku rounded on Sora once again, keeping his voice lower this time. "Do you even have a plan, genious? You couldn't even take twenty of these spiders if you had your keyblade with you!"

Sora smiled brilliantly, throwing Riku off guard. "'Course I do!"

Using Riku's stunned reaction to his full advantage, Sora easily broke free of his grasp and jumped over the last few obsticles, coming to rest on a high rock right in front of three spiders. Riku took little relief in seeing that he wasn't the only one stunned. The spiders, stupid to start with, didn't know what to do with the bold appearance of a creature they'd never seen before. Riku knew that wouldn't last long. Instinct would kick in.

And then Sora would die.

He couldn't let that happen.

"Come on, giant pansies!" Sora said, sticking out his tongue and making a ridiculous face. "Betcha can't catch me!"

_Bet they could_. Riku followed Sora, trying to keep his inner commentary to himself. Just a little farther and he'd be able to pull Sora back, and then maybe they could make it past the other seventeen spiders and out to freedom. Right. And that brought up another important point...

What about Grimna?

Riku glanced back. Grimna was just climbing over a rock herself. Damn. He told her to stay there! Everything was going to hell. Something flashed in his peripheral vision, and he quickly turned to look. Nothing was there. Probably the walls. They glowed that same errie light even here.

Sora gave one last jibe at the spiders, something about the designs on their back and a comparison to a railroad track, whatever that meant, and jumped away. He was a good distance away from the spiders when their dazed state wore off. All at once, they sprang into action, chasing after Sora with teeth wide open and long legs making up the distance, the rapidity with which they moved contradicting their bulbous appearance. Who knew fat spiders could move that fast? Sora certainly didn't.

Riku realized in despair that he was too far away. He couldn't make it in time to save Sora. He ground his teeth and pulled out his makeshift weapon anyway, the sharp rock promising death to the next spider he came across.

But damn it all this just didn't make sense! What could Sora be thinking?

Sora's next words explained it all.

"Now, Goofy!"

* * *

Namine hadn't gone far the last time she had fled into the cave. The Invisible Man had made sure of that. In fact, she had barely taken two steps into the cave before he had grabbed her. Now, barely ten paces into the cave, Namine stood very still. It was a good idea. 

A spider loomed above her, easily as tall as the cave itself. Different from the spiders Sora and Riku had come across, this one was thin and grey with white spots randomly placed about its body and legs. It had a slightly humanoid appearance in the face, with its mouth closed and an unearthly intelligence in its eyes.

And it was looking at her.

Namine cautiously took a step back. The spider followed her, it's body swaying with her movement. It didn't even have to move its legs to keep up. Namine couldn't keep the gasp from escaping her. She looked back, not daring to take one eye off the spider, though she couldn't tell why. The monster could easily overcome her. She caught Axel's red hair from the corner of her eye.

"Axel..." she called weakly. The monster tilted its head. She tried again. This time, Axel looked. His eyes grew as big as saucers.

"Holy shit monkeys," she heard him say. To her great astonishment and relief, he walked right into the cave and leaned against a wall. "I gotta add that one to my collection. Hey, Roxas! come look at this!"

Not waiting for a reply, Axel boldly strode in, slung an arm around Namine, and carried her back toward the exit. The spider's gaze never left them, and though that was unnerving in itself, there was one all important fact that Namine was grateful for.

It didn't follow.

* * *

Author's Note - Alright, I gotta end it here. It's still short, I know, but it is longer, you gotta give me that. 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - ...I have nothing to say here.

* * *

"Goofy!" 

Sora performed one of his most basic moves: the dodge roll. Beautiful in its simplicity, it was a technique that he had often taken for granted. But now, as countless times before, it helped him out of a sticky situation, puting him out of reach just as a spider's mouth crashed into the rock where he'd just been. A beautiful technique. And he didn't even need magic to use it.

But it paled next to the beauty of teamwork. With a happy, or dare I say, goofy 'ha-yuck!' a shield smashed into the group of spiders just as Sora rolled away, scattering them and doing more than a little damage. The shield, bereft of magical abilities, stayed on the floor where it fell instead of returning to its owners hand. But that didn't matter much because as soon as it was thrown, the owner ran along behind it, scooping it up and throwing it at the spiders again before they could recuperate. It was a perfect shot. One spider fell down.

It didn't get back up.

"Alright, Goofy!" Sora cheered, throwing his fist into the air.

"Sora!" Goofy was beside him in an instant, eveloping him in breath taking hug.

"Goofy," Sora gasped, hugging Goofy back and not caring in the slightest that he had no air in his lungs.

Riku approached with his arms crossed and an all knowing grin on his face. Sure, he didn't know Goofy was around, but _they_ didn't know he didn't know, so why let on that he didn't know...you know? "So Sora's partner in crime returns," Riku teased. Goofy, no Donald, had once said that about him. "How you been?"

Goofy straightened up, still holding Sora whose feet were now dangling a foot off the ground. Upon Sora voicing a muffled protest into his shirt, Goofy dropped him to the ground. "Hiya, Riku! Gawrsh, you're even taller than last time!"

Riku ignored the compliment. "Donald?" It came out twice as loud, because Sora had chosen the exact same time to say it, too.

* * *

Grimna, meanwhile, was only moments away. She had seen it all. She glanced over to the dead body of her minion and then back to Goofy. This could be a problem. 

And then there they were. Chatting. They were standing around chatting. Grimna felt a surge of almost uncontrolable rage. The loss of a minion was one thing, a nuisance and nothing more, but this was her cave. They should be terrified in this domain. HER domain. She snarled in pure hatred at the trio. They had no idea what was coming.

They would be petrified by the time she was through.

* * *

A duck was charging them. 

A duck.

Axel didn't know if he should laugh or get the hell outta the way. As the duck made impact and completely bowled him over, Axel realized he should've chosen the later.

Namine fell to the ground and rolled out of the way. She recognized that duck, and was in no hurry to get in front of him once he was angry. And he certainly seemed angry now. Still, it was hard not to laugh seeing a duck twist one of Axel's arms around behind his back and effectively immobilize him.

"What did you do with Sora!" He demanded roughly.

Axel laughed. Not at the question exactly, it's just...who wouldn't?

The duck twisted Axel's arm hard. "That's the wrong answer, buddy!"

"Alright, alright!" Axel gave in, his voice suddenly serious. The duck eased off on the arm twisting. The pain now gone, Axel burst out laughing again.

"You think it's a game, do ya?" The duck twisted the arm twice as hard. "Talk, or I break it!"

Namine sweat dropped. Where was Roxas now anyway?

Not too far away, a death match was put on temporary hiatus as the two combatants watched the strange specticle.

"I haven't seen something like that since I was a young oyster in the Sea of Pearls," Red Cloak commented.

Not taking his eyes off the odd scene, Roxas made a suggestion to Red Cloak. "How about you and I finish this later?"

"Flying machines don't work in the winter," Red Cloak stated, "But if the summer time comes early in the fall of great winter's eve, who's to question such logic?"

Roxas took that as a yes.

* * *

"Well, uh, Donald," Goofy rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "Donald's, uh, still with the ship..." 

Sora looked sceptical. Donald staying with the ship? That didn't sound right. But then, this planet wasn't exactly the best place for wizards...maybe Donald felt he'd be useless without his magic and decided to stay out of harm's way? Somehow, Sora doubted it.

Riku's thoughts took another course. "You have a ship?"

Goofy perked up at this. "Yeah. We're here to rescue you."

Riku's face grew dark. "Gee, thanks," he said, crossing his arms.

"Ah, don't be that way, Riku," Sora pouted. "They're only here to help."

The frown didn't leave Riku's face. Sure, it was nice to have a little help -especially now- but help from the people who are, technically, your enemies, was not his idea of being 'rescued.'

Riku moved right in front of Goofy, staring at him until he looked him in the eye. "I'm not going back."

Goofy scratched the back of his head and said nothing. He looked away, unable to match Riku's stare.

"They're here to help," Sora said again, quietly this time, a low tone to his voice. Was he threatening him? Riku was impressed. Cold gaze not leaving Goofy, Riku walked past them both.

"Hey," Sora said, looking up abruptly, "where'd all the spiders go?"

Riku stopped and turned around. He was right, the spiders had all left, Riku could see the last of them scramble frantically through a hole in the wall. What had frightened them so ba...?

"Sora, look out!"

* * *

"I won't say this again! Talk or I break it!" 

Axel couldn't have talked even if he wanted to. The searing pain rolling up and down his arm and shoulder kept his voice from him, and Namine knew if Donald ever let up again, Axel would just laugh. It would be like hell freezing over if Axel _didn't_ laugh. Even now his screams of agony were laced with hilarity.

"That's it! I-" the duck stopped what he was saying and gulped. Something sharp and made of metal was resting against the back of his neck.

"I'm sure you won't mind letting go of my friend," Roxas said.

Looking around for other options and finding none, the duck let go. Axel fell to the ground, clutching his arm and, surprise, laughing. It took a full five minutes for him to stop, in which time Roxas, Namine, and the duck all glanced at each other and shared the same thought: I wish he'd just shut up.

"Donald," Namine said when Axel was finally done, "what are you doing here?"

Roxas was looking at Namine as she spoke. When he learned who the duck was, he looked back to him quickly. This was Donald? _The_ Donald?!

"Wait a minute," Axel said, pulling himself out of his sprawled out laughing position on the ground and sitting cross legged. "You're Donald? _The _Donald?"

Great minds think alike.

"I am," Donald said, glaring at Axel. Then he turned to Roxas, "and I'm here for Riku!"

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "You said you were looking for Sora."

"Of course I am!" Donald quacked. "Wherever Sora is, Riku is!"

"What do you want Riku for?" Roxas said. Not that it mattered, of course. Riku, that damn anoying white head, was long dead by now, buried in at the bottom of a pit of quicksand. A surge of disgust surfaced inside of him as he finally faced the horrible death he'd let them both die. Sora deserved it, hands down. That little shit. But Riku... He didn't know Riku very well. He just knew he was as anoying as hell to fight, and probably the biggest obsticle in the way to defeating Sora. If you wanted Sora you'd have to go through Riku first.

Roxas shook the thoughts from his head. Whether he had respect for Riku or not, he was dead, and that was that.

"He's wanted!" Donald answered, crossing his feathery arms. Or wings. Whatever.

Axel rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we figured that out. What for, small fry?"

A combination of things had added to Donald's wonderful mood that night. Being called 'small fry' was just one more bruise to bear, but it briefly sent the duck over the edge. As a result he blurted, rather indignantly,

"He's wanted for murder!"

* * *

Author's Note - Disney characters rock. 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - And now we shall experience a slight scene change. ((evil laughter)) Yes, you probably want to know more about Riku's murder record, eh? Well, tough luck, my friends. Not in this chappie. Instead, this chapter has the answer many of you have been asking for. Where's Kairi? And after ten chapters and that summary, it's about time I give it to you.

* * *

No commoner was ever allowed to see Kairi. The rumors of her great beauty spread far and wide throughout the galaxy with such catching vigor and detail that many had made the journy to see the famed princess. An angel, the rumors said, the most beautiful maiden on the planet, no, in the entire galaxy, even. The Rose of Destiny Islands.

It was also rumored that the princess was terribly shy. Traveler after disappointed traveler was turned away. The commoners came in such numbers that they were immediately, but politely, turned away at the gate, while even the richer nobles and royalty were sometimes turned back. Though, of course, those with noble and royal blood were more often than not visiting the island for other, more pressing matters than to just look at a princess. Although the gate was open to such as they, Kairi herself rarely held an audience with any of them, and stayed hidden away in some distant part of the castle. Even the great King Mickey had never seen the princess.

But those who did, men of high standing and honor, swore on her enchanting beauty. No one doubted its reality.

Why, then, did this feeling of dread pervade his thoughts, the air, the very carpet and tapestries in the corridor? Dark blue eyes took in all around him. It was normal to be this nervous before a job, he reminded himself. Perfectly normal. Still, he found himself double checking the tapestries, which draped down at intervals to serve as curtains for the large windows.

Thanks to his disguise, he looked nothing more than a servant cleaning to the casual passerbyes on the streets far below. And people did look up, often, trying to catch a glimpse of the elusive princess. Seeing a lowly servant, they quickly returned their gazes to the cobblestone streets, continueing their business, whatever it was.

One gaze, however, stared at him longer than the others. He saw the man speak into his hand. Probably a microphone. Shit.

The decision to abandon his quest came quickly. He was wandering too close to the royal chambers, and though he was a servant, or at least looked like one, it was apparant that more of a disguise would be needed to get what he desired. That and the damn curtains would need to be closed.

He would wait for night.

Not bothering to be silent, he left the corridor the way he'd come. Through the door. He did, however, close it behind him carefully. A slammed door would draw much unwanted attention, and the doors in this castle had a serious problem with slamming shut if not closed slowly. He wasn't sure if this was purposeful or just bad management.

"Well, if it isn't the Cloaked Schemer."

He turned his attention from the door. Now he was sure. It _was_ intentional. Quite ingenious, actually. It caused him to spend his time tending to it instead of making sure he was alone in this new room. He mentally berated himself for an idiot. Not only did he _see_ this trap, he had also told himself to avoid it, and then walked straight into it. Hmph.

But more important matters pressed now. He already recognized the voice, so he wasn't surprised to see the face. Facing her squarly, he crossed his arms across his chest and answered, "If it isn't the Savage Nymph."

The blond female gave him a seductive grin, "I always liked that nickname."

He was stoic, face passive, not moving from his possition. He wasn't exactly glaring at her, but even simply looking at her, one eye hidden behind his bangs, seemed to unnerve her. Just like old times. He could probably get the woman to melt with a few select words if he wanted to. Flash her a mysterious smile and the broad would do anything for him. Well, she would, if not for one problem. He would never do a thing like that.

Why?

He detested the woman.

And she detested him. Only he really detested her, completely and without room for debate, whereas she hinted, at every opportunity, that she'd like nothing more than a taste of the forbidden fruit. Even as she looked at him now, a mixture between hatred and longing played in her eyes.

He thanked a god he didn't believe in that he hadn't seen his blond haired nemesis in years.

The thoughts must have shown the disgust on his face, for she laughed. Scowling, he brushed past her. She grabbed his arm to stop him, which he did with a death glare that she took more delight in than feared. He tried to shrug free, but the woman was surprisingly strong.

"You're trespassing," she winked.

He was suddenly aware of a presence behind him. He was knocked unconcious before he could react.

* * *

"And who is this one?"

"This," the Savage Nymph answered, "is Zexion."

"You're rival?" asked one voice. At the same time, anther voice asked, "The thief?"

The blond glared at the first questionare. She looked to the second speaker, someone of lower rank, and no real signifigance whatsoever other than being a good henchman.

"Yes, the thief."

"I hear he's quite good. We should take him to Kairi."

She hmphed. She had other plans for Zexion. It wasn't often she caught her most 'hated' rival so easily. In fact, she was rather surprised he fell for it at all. Spending too much time with the door should've been humiliating enough, but to not even notice another presence in the room? It was unusual for him...

She shrugged it off. Everyone had bad days.

It just so happened that his bad day was her good day.

"I want him in the dungeons...chained." Her smile betrayed what she had in mind.

"Larxene."

She looked up at the mention of her name, annoyed. Her expression quickly changed when she realized who was talking to her.

"Saïx," she said, dipping into a respectful bow.

"Take the prisoner to Kairi," Saïx never was one for the small talk. The large man next to Larxene never changed his expression, but she could tell he was gloating...well, he might be gloating. Maybe not.

She scowled, disappointed enough to voice an objection. Saïx repeated his order with a deadly undertone, and this time Larxene was quick to obey. Her tall companion easily scooped up the unconcious thief and followed her out of the room.

Saïx watched them go. If this Zexion, this Cloaked Schemer, was anywhere near as talented as he was famed to be than they would soon have another powerful ally at their beckoning. Kairi would see to that.

* * *

Zexion was awake by the time he was dropped, uncerimoniously, onto the floor in the very room he'd been trying to get inside just moments before. He contimplated acting like he was still knocked out, but discarded the idea on instinct. Larxene was smiling down at him as he struggled to sit up. She bowed toward some area of the room, and retreated through the door. He flipped her the bird as she left.

"Oh! another one!"

Zexion quickly turned his attention toward the voice. God, he just wasn't at his peak today. That was the third time he hadn't noticed somebody's presence. He vowed to not make that same mistake again, taking in the room at a glance and acertaining through other means than sight that there was no one else there besides Kairi.

Kairi!

"Oh, how delightful!"

An angel was on the bed before him, her hands glasped together in glee. She wore a simple night gown. Her eyes were cloudy from just waking up. She had bed hair.

And she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

She swung her legs over the bed and fairly skipped over to him, obviously delighted, though he honestly couldn't tell why. It was the last rational thought he had before her close proximatey drove thought from his brain. His mouth went dry as she scrutinized him, one finger on the side of her face.

"Now," she said, transfering the finger from her face to his, and tracing it along his jaw until it came up under his chin, "what can _you_ do?"

His lips parted to answer, but no words came out. No words could come out. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. The effort to just do that was great, but it did shake Kairi's hand away from his face, and he found he could actually manage a few words without her touching him.

"Wha...what," he clenched his jaw shut and shook his head. The hell was wrong with him?

Kairi's curiousity had been awakened. She wanted to know what he had to say. "Ask your question," she commanded, and although it came out affably, it was still a command. Zexion found his voice freed from whatever force had held it back.

"What did you _do_ to me?" he demanded. Even a commoner would consider his tone of voice far from polite.

Kairi smiled, delighted. "You're so much like Roxas!"

Zexion didn't have a clue who she was talking about, but he glared at her anyway. His defiance didn't last long. The anger was quickly fading from his eyes. He tried to shake his head again, but a simple command from Kairi kept him looking at her. Into her eyes...watching her smile.

And suddenly he wasn't struggling at all.

"Zexion...I have an offer for you."

* * *

Author's Note - I decided to really step it up a notch. Well, I _hope_ this is stepping it up a notch. It gives more info about this alternate universe at any rate, and should fill in some of the blanks.

Anyway, I don't really know anything about the organization members used in here, having never played CoM, so do be kind and tell me if I'm keeping them in character? Or if I've completely ruined them, or you like the way they're portrayed...and stuff.

Still too short? Any typos? I want to know! I can take critisisim. :D Thanks for reading, guys!


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - It's short. Sorry. I wrote it up last minute, so I could get it to you, yes YOU, my lovely readers. Short, but on time.

* * *

Axel choked on air. "Murder? Why the hell is he wanted for murder?" 

"'Cause he killed somebody," Donald said.

Axel threw a glare in the duck's direction, "I guessed that, jackass. Who'd he murder?"

"I doesn't matter," Roxas cut in. He turned to Donald, "Riku is dead. I killed him."

Namine turned her head away from the group and stared at the moonlite ground at her feet, clearly ashamed of what Roxas had done; however, almost no one was paying attention to the small girl.

Red Cloak was.

"Now, listen here," Axel was saying, "if my friend says he's dead, then he's dead. He's dead. D-E-A-D. Got it memorized?"

Namine looked up and tilted her head. She must've missed something.

"He's not _dead_! The ship's computer said Sora and Riku were right _here_! You're friend is _wrong_!" Donald said, apparantly feeling it was necessary to yell the last word in each sentence.

Axel and Roxas shared a look. If a gummie detected it, then it might actually be true.

"Impossible," Roxas muttered.

"Improbable is more likely," Red Cloak said. He was sitting cross-legged in the dirt next to Namine. She jumped, and justly so. He hadn't been there a second ago.

Donald gave the man a strange look, and Roxas gave a disgusted sigh, but Axel ignored the man completely.

The red head had other matters in mind. "Well, good. Sora owes me twenty munny."

Roxas fell over, anime style. Donald took the opportunity to break free and make a break for the cave. Roxas caught him by the back of his shirt and put the chakram back in its place at the duck's neck. Donald snapped his fingers, thwarted once again.

"Twenty munny?!" Roxas repeated, "What'd you do, play poker with the bastard?"

Axel was about to respond when an explosion shook the ground.

* * *

Sora knew enough about Riku to know his tone of voice. "Look out," didn't mean "look out," it meant, "Roll, dammit, ROLL!" So Sora did roll. 

Unfortunantly, it was already too late.

Goofy and Riku watched in horror as a half-human half-spider monster tackled Sora. It was grossly beautiful, with the upper body of a striking woman with long black hair, and the lower body of a magnificent black widow spider. The red hour-glass typical of the black widow glowed the color of blood, and the slick blackness of the spider body held the same errie light as the walls of the cavern itself. All of this could be seen in an instant, and in that instant Grimna had already torn a hole in Sora's shoulder with the tip of just one wickedly sharp leg. Another leg pinned his other arm, and two others his legs. Sora found himself pinned vertically to one of the many stones jutting up from the floor before he could react.

Riku didn't have time to be awestruck. Sora was in danger. He jumped in immediately, regardless of the danger to himself. Grimna flicked a leg out and caught him in the center, and he went flying across the room like a rag doll. His head hit up against a wall and an explosion of light errupted behind his eyes. Then his world went black.

Goofy saw the attack on Riku and knew the spider wouldn't waste time seeing if her attack worked. He stuck his shield up in time to deflect a blow, but was sent back a full ten feet before his feet stuck hard into the ground and he stopped skidding. He brought his shield down long enough to see Riku's still form slide down the wall and knew he wouldn't be getting any help from the silver haired boy in this fight.

And then Sora screamed. Grimna, for all the appearance of a human upper half, had teeth as sharp as a vampires. And they were sinking into Sora's shoulder.

"Hold on, Sora!" Goofy called. Bad move. Grimna had thought him defeated, if not dead, and the sound of his voice brought her head up immediately, her full attention back on killing Goofy. Goofy was just thankful she was no longer biting Sora.

Now, Goofy had never been one for relying on magic, but the loss of his shield at that moment was enough to make him miss it. Badly. He jumped and dived over and through the two legs that were attacking him, just to be caught in the head by a third. He flew back, just like Riku, and hit a wall. But, unlike Riku, Goofy wasn't knocked unconcious. And now he was out of range from Grimna's attacks. Far out of range.

He looked back to the distant battle and saw Grimna turn her attention back to Sora, smiling at him and licking his blood off her lips. He could see his shield under her belly. Goofy could run fast when he needed to. And this time, he was determined to not make his presence known.

* * *

Grimna knocked the annoying creature back. She watched him hit the wall and heard the thud when his head connected. Satisfied, she turned back to her meal. The human boy had become extremely pale, whether from loss of blood or fear of her, she couldn't tell. She smiled evilly. Probably a bit of both. 

"There," she cooed. "Now we can be alone." He looked up at her weakly, his breathing coming in short gasps. She smiled and licked his blood off her lips, drawing it out to insite terror in the boy. His demeanor didn't change at all, and she found herself taken aback by the look in his eyes. A hidden power lay behind those eyes, something far greater than she could comprehend. That wasn't the look of a victim.

Snarling, she brought her teeth down upon him again, this time aiming for his neck. She could torture the other one all she wanted. Instinct told her to kill this one, and to do it soon. She always followed her instincts.

And suddenly, instinct was telling her to stop all else and protect her underside. Too late she moved to the side. A shield had badly bruised her tender underbelly. She staggered to the left, but corrected herself quickly.

Freed for the moment, Sora fell to the ground. He weakly propped himself up on his hands and knees. Goofy took a defensive possition in front of him.

"You're gonna have to get through me first!" he said, shield at the ready.

"Goofy..." Sora blinked away the tears forming in his eyes and looked around for Riku. He was slumped against a far wall, not moving. A surge of anger brought Sora to his feet, a rock in hand. Just as quickly, the loss of blood brought him back to his knees.

"Don't worry, Sora," Goofy said softly, "I'll take care of this one." He hadn't turned around, hadn't seen Sora's failed attempt at heroics, or the look on his face when the keyless Keyblade Master realized he was truly useless, that he was completely unable to help in any way...but Goofy knew what was happening as surely as he'd been watching it. He suddenly and happily ha-yucked, causing Sora to look up at him. Goofy let Sora see his profile. "You can't have all the fun, ya know!"

Grimna sneered. "Tender moment." She had refrained from attacking for one simple reason. Cowardice. To have thought such a small creature could hurt her...impossible! Or, at least, that's what she had thought. But the internal bleeding in her stomach told her otherwise. It would stop, surely it would stop, with time, but the injury brought her a disadvantage to this battle. She would be slower now. But that didn't matter. She couldn't lose. He would die.

They would all die.

"Ha-yuck!" Goofy's shield went soaring high into the air. Suspecting a trick, Grimna didn't follow its path, instead keeping her eyes on Goofy as she slowly circled him and Sora. Still, without his shield he proved too tempting a target, and she lunged.

Then Goofy's shield hit the cavern's ceiling.

Then the cave started to collapse.

* * *

Author's Note - I hope the action scenes were up to par. Yes, it's another cliffie. Don't look at me that way, it's under the 'suspense' catagory, for Pete's sake! Yes, uh, so...there. ((runs away from angry reviewers)) Anyway, next chapter will have more on Riku's murder charge, so do review or _I'LL NEVER TELL_. MUWAHAHA! 


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - It's a head on collision with the law. Don't mess with Donald.

* * *

The shield hit the ceiling with a resounding THUD. The noise was loud enough to make everyone look. Goofy's weapon was stuck in the ceiling far above, the sight barely visible with the dim light the walls provided, and the faint moonlight from the not so far off exit. All was quiet for a moment.

Then the cracks appeared, starting from the sheild and moving along the ceiling from that center point. A noise like an un-oiled door screeching on its hinges followed the cracks, becoming louder as the cracks got bigger. By some twist of fate, the cracks took on the shape of an uneven spider's web.

It all happened so fast. Sora was still gaping when he felt Goofy tug at his arm. Somewhere in his mind he realized he was being dragged along, out of the cave.

"Riku!" Sora looked around frantically. "We can't leave Riku!"

The noise that had started out so small had quickly become a roar. Goofy couldn't hear Sora's call.

* * *

Time seemed to slow down for the monster known as Momka Grimna.

Fist sized rocks fell about her, dashing against the bottom of the cavern and splitting upon impact. They were getting bigger.

All thoughts of eating the humans had fled from her. She was faced with death now. The cavern collapsing on top of her drove all rational thought from her mind. She was a spider now. A creature driven purely by instinct, neither evil nor good.

A giant, stupid, unthinking insect. Just like her minions.

And just like her minions, she scrambled for a hole in the wall. She knew, even if she didn't think it, where the safest place for her was, and that was underground. Far, far underground. The collapse could only reach so far, and she had roamed these tunnels for millenia. She knew where she was going.

She scrambled toward the wall, three legs already climbing, the others on the ground ten feet below her. She stretched herself to her limit, and one foot scrapped the opening that would lead her to safety.

Then a boulder fell on her grounded legs. Three of them were crushed instantly. Beaten down by the pressure, but not broken, the legs dragged the rest of Grimna's body to the ground. She clawed at the opening futiley while falling, but her own legs, encased as they were in their tough black armor, would not break as she wished them to. If they would only break, she could get away. It was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make.

But they didn't break, and Grimna was hit with another boulder. This one crushed her middle. A scream of pain and rage errupted from her, louder than any other noise in the cavern. She looked around her with wild eyes, completely trapped, unable to even move with this unbarable weight on top of her.

It was killing her.

* * *

Riku stirred. The first thing he noticed was the pounding behind his head. He pushed himself up with his hands, paying little attention to the dust in the air and the noise around him. His world was spinning. He had moved too fast.

A large rock fell to his side, splattering as it hit the ground, divided into thousands of pieces. A few of the small ones found their way into Riku's flesh, piercing him and forming tiny scratches. The larger ones left bruises before bouncing off.

It was enough to wake him up. He dodged to the side as another rock fell close to him. The splattering pieces didn't miss him completely, and he grimaced in pain at his latest scar: a wicked gash across his left cheek. Luckily, it had only grazed him. If it had hit him directly, he would be dead.

"Sora!"

No answer. Not that he could've heard it anyway. He pushed himself back against the wall and another boulder to avoid the shattering pieces as yet another piece of the ceiling fell close to him. Rock was deflected by rock, and he moved to leave the temporary haven.

A spider's leg stopped him. He could hear himself scream, the rocks around him provided some relief from not only the rocks falling from above, but the noise also. He looked down to see the glowing black leg pinning his own leg down through the calf muscle. He followed the leg up to the body controlling it.

"Boy!" the creature hissed. He knew that voice.

"Grimna."

"Free me, boy!"

Riku scoffed. It was a desperate plea, and they both knew it. He gently removed the spider's leg. Gently for his sake, not hers. It was easy. She was too weak to use it. It had probably taken the last of what she had just to catch him with it.

"Help me!" She screamed then, pain and rage contorting her face.

Riku pulled himself back out of her reach. He turned to go. Showing his profile, he answered her.

"No."

* * *

"We need to go back for Riku!"

Sora broke free from Goofy's grasp. He got two steps before he stumbled and fell, but still he continued to crawl toward the cave.

"Riku..." tears rolled down his eyes as he watched the cave continue to fall. They had left through another hole in the wall, the one where the moonlight had been coming from. Freedom from the cave wasn't fifteen feet away.

Goofy grabbed Sora around the waist. The cave was, after all, still falling apart around them, and no matter how close to the exit they were, they still had to _get_ there. "Come on, Sora!" He hauled the weak brunet away.

"Goofy! Watch out!"

Donald's call came too late. Goofy was knocked to the ground by a well placed hit to the head. He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, much to the surprise of Axel, who could only gap at the hard-headed knight. He hadn't hit him ligthly.

"Gwarsh, that hurt. You alright, Sor-" he stopped suddenly at the sight before him. Sora was on the dirt in front of him, just clear of the cave. And a familiar figure was holding a very sharp weapon to his throat.

"Don't you ever die?" It wasn't in Roxas's nature to swear that badly, Axel normally did that, but this was what you would call a special occasion. A word or two might've slipped past. Disdain was evident in his voice. A chill ran up and down Goofy's spine. Donald's, too. It was hard to believe someone could _hate_ that much. It was just...

Sad.

Sora and Roxas stared at each other, neither one moving. The blood coming from Sora's shoulder was creating a pool on the ground; it appeared black in the moonlight.

Sora spoke, voice firm, "Goofy...Donald...Riku's inside. Help him out."

"Sora..." Donald said, reluctant to leave his friend under such circumstances. Goofy was of the same opinion.

"Help Riku," Sora said, taking his eyes off of Roxas for a moment to flash them one of his famous grins. "I'll be alright."

Donald was in the middle of a personal crisis. Stay and make sure Sora was safe, or go and arrest the person he'd been hunting for three years...the answer came easily, and he was ashamed he had even hesitated over it if only just a little. "We're not leavin' ya!" he declared. Goofy agreed.

"You will leave, or," Roxas said, pushing the chakram to create the smallest of cuts in Sora's neck, "I'll kill him _now_."

It took very little convincing after that to prove he was telling the truth. Donald and Goofy both hated it, hated it beyond words, but they had to leave Sora. And they were both smart enough to know they might not ever see him again. They knew who it was who Roxas worked for. They knew who hunted Sora.

"Thank you," Sora said, once they were gone.

"I hate you," was Roxas's answer. He dug the weapon in deeper, with no intention of stopping.

"Roxas, please! Don't!" Namine called. Her cry fell on deaf ears.

* * *

Riku stole Sora's technique. Not like it was original anyway. He dodge rolled past the falling boulders, timing his moves carefully, keeping his eyes on the ceiling. He tripped over something. Goddammit.

He rolled to the side and bunched into a ball as the boulder crashed down where he had just been. He moved quickly, avoiding another boulder crashing down on him _again_. He couldn't afford many more of these close calls, and his wounded leg wasn't making things easier. That's when he saw it, the object he had tripped over.

It was Goofy's shield. He smiled, picking it up as he continued to dodge roll toward the exit. It was much easier with the shield protecting his head. The smaller rocks bounced off harmlessly. Now all he had to worry about were the big ones. The boulders. And the cave collapsing completely. Now, only rocks were falling, but they were getting faster, and there were more of them. Any moment now, and the roof would cave in entirely. It was with great relief that Riku passed through the hole, and stood facing the exit.

He stopped there, the shield over his head. The collapse wasn't so bad here, no huge boulders falling every two seconds, but it was still bad enough to kill him. Still, he stayed stopped. He could see everything.

First there was another huge spider...no big surprise there. It was crawled back into a corner, simply watching the cave fall in around it with its old eyes and that unnerving humanoid-like head. It looked straight at Riku, and then turned its gaze to the two figures running toward him. Goofy. And Donald.

_Oh, shit._

Riku tensed up, putting the shield out in front of him like a weapon. The two 'rescuers' slowed down. Donald started his whole speel. "You're coming with us" blah, blah, blah. Riku had heard it before. It got old fast. He turned his gaze to beyond them, outside of the cave. His eyes grew wide when he caught sight of Sora. He was about to call out, anything to keep what was about to happen from happening, but without the shield above him his head was unprotected from the rock that fell. He was knocked to the ground, a bruise on his head, but still very much alive.

Donald and Goofy were on him in an instant.

Donald couldn't help feeling estatic. It was about time! "You're under arrest," he said, "for the murder of Jiminy Cricket!"

* * *

Author's Note - Ha! Bet you didn't see that one comin'. 


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - Longest chapter to date.

* * *

Donald pulled Riku's arm up behind his back, but Riku wasn't as easily immobilized as Axel. Not that Axel was a push over...but Riku wasn't laughing. He managed to throw his back up against a wall, squishing the duck in between him and it. Donald's eyes turned into swirly circles and he fell limply to the ground.

Goofy bowled Riku over from the side. Donald recovered from his dazed state with a shake of his head and moved to join in. A rock fell in between him and his goal, forcing him to stop. They couldn't keep this up for long with the cave rapidly falling apart around them.

"We gotta get outta here!" Donald called. "Pull him along!"

Riku tried pushing Goofy off of him to no avail. Goofy saved him the trouble, giving Riku a final shove to make sure he'd be stunned enough to not get up himself, and then standing, grabbing one of Riku's wrists on his way up. Donald grabbed the other. And then they started pulling him.

Riku kicked his legs out and tried yanking his wrists back. He would be damned if he let them take him, and besides, they were going too slow. He could _walk_ faster than this. The image of Sora's throat about to be slit stuck out in his mind. Sora needed help _now_. It might already be too late...he struggled harder.

"That's it!" Donald grabbed Goofy's shield from him, which he had picked up once Riku dropped it. The wizard wasn't exactly proficient with fighting with a shield, or any other weapon besides a wand for that matter, but he had a general idea of how to use it. Metal made contact with Riku's head with a satisfying 'twang'. Riku became limp. He was much easier to drag after that.

They made it outside without a problem. They needn't of hurried. A loud crash came from the inner cave as it collapsed, but the entrance itself remained intact. The old gray spider looked out at them curiously, causing Donald to gasp. He didn't know it had been there...it could've attacked them at any moment!

Goofy, on the other hand, wasn't looking back at the cave. "Uh, Donald," he said, "where is everybody?"

"Wha?" Donald turned around. From the dirt surrounding the cave, to the cliff, to the desert stretching on for miles, there wasn't a trace of life. There was nobody there but them.

* * *

Sora disappeared.

The chakram pierced the sand. Roxas, Axel, and Namine all stared at the spot dumbly. Roxas was the first to piece it together.

"That son of a..."

"Ruffians! Vagabonds! Children of wooden popsicle sticks! This fair princess shall not suffer hurt by ye!"

Axel and Namine shared a look, understanding passing between them.

Red Cloak had taken Sora.

"That guy's in for a world of trouble," Axel said, putting a hand behind his head.

"Red haired monstrosity! Ye, you, and _thou_ shalt suffer first!"

"Monstrosity," Axel scoffed, "The name's Axel. A-X-E-L, got it-" and then he disappeared.

Roxas was seething mad. He was stalking back and forth like a caged tiger, ready to leap on Red Cloak and rip him apart at the first sign of his location. The disappointment of not getting to kill that...that...brat! was eating at him already. Once again, Sora had slipped through his fingers. And Inviso-Glitter-Freak would suffer for it. Roxas stilled his pace, letting his ears do the searching. But this time, Red Cloak wasn't only invisible, but his voice was coming from every direction. A psycotic laugh erupted all around him.

"You send them back!" he demanded lamely. It was the only thing he could think of. 'Undisappear my friend, and the guy I was about to kill' was the other phrase rolling around in his angry mind, and he chose not to use that one.

"Foul garbage boy!"

Roxas recognized the name. Red Cloak had used it on him earlier. He ducked and rolled to the side. A small bit of sand where he had just stood was disturbed, like a dart had hit it, or a small pebble. Namine screamed. Roxas turned to her, but she was already gone.

He was alone now.

Well, almost alone. Footprints in the sand to his left moved carefully around out of Roxas's line of sight. He smiled, preparing the chakram.

"This is none of your business," he tried, "Send them back and I won't have to hurt you."

The laughter he was expecting didn't come. Instead, an audible sigh escaped Red Cloak. A sigh that didn't come from every direction, and was much closer than Roxas had expected. He felt a prick on the back of his neck and the world began spinning. He dropped to a knee.

Red Cloak appeared in front of him, his image never in focus for Roxas, swaying and twisting as his vision got darker. "Alas, you are noble," Red Cloak said, patting him on the head, a feeling Roxas hardly registered, "but...you spilled mustard _all over_ my shirt. See?" He parted his cloak and flattened out a piece of his shirt, which was, by the by, completely devoid of any mustard stains, although it did have a large super man sign in the middle. Roxas never got to see it, though, which I'm sure he's thankful for. His world had gone black.

* * *

Riku woke up to the sound of singing. Bad singing. He clenched his eyes shut even tighter and groaned, moving his head to the side and pressing one ear into the ground to block out the noise. But the Genious who created him had the nerve to give him two ears. It didn't help at all.

"Oh, he's awake."

Riku opened his eyes, but a thick fog clouded his vision. The singer, he noted, was some distance away, and probably cooking by what he could tell. A strange sizzling noise was the only constant sound coming from that direction. The rest of it was that God aweful song. The singer hit an especially annoying key and then abruptly dropped his voice down low. Was that the Barney song? It sure was a twisted version. Not that he ever watched Barney as a kid, or anything...

"Am I in hell?" Riku asked.

A humorless laugh. "I wouldn't doubt it."

Riku rolled onto his back. His hands were tied, he noticed, and the fog was clearing. He sat up as best he could, and took in the sight around him. He was on damp ground. A smell of smoke was in the air, but mostly it was just steam. It clung to his hair and eyelashes, and made his clothes damp. It also kept him from seeing far. But what he could see was...

"Axel?"

Axel offered a casual wave. "Long time no see," and then, because he couldn't help himself, "I hear you murdered somebody."

Well that was a conversation starter. "I...where's Sora?"

"Sure, change the subject."

Riku looked off to the side. Silence reigned for a few moments. Riku noticed his leg had stopped trobbing. It had been bandaged, along with his other various wounds. Did Axel do that? He looked over at the red head, a question in his eyes. Axel was looking away himself now, facing the singing with a grimace on his face. "I wish he'd just shut up," he muttered under his breath.

"You're chained," Riku said. He had just caught sight of it. A long thick chain was attatched to Axel's leg. The other end of it was connected to the ground.

"Really?" Axel said, sarcastically, looking at the chain in mock surprise, "Oh, would you look at that. I didn't notice."

"Bite me," was Riku's response.

Soft laughter came from the fog a short distance from Axel. Riku squinted his eyes. He couldn't see anyone there.

"Ah, stuff it, Roxas."

"Roxas?"

The blond came into view then, the fog parting to make him visible, as if it understood what they were talking about. He was chained to the rock he was sitting upon, viewable from the side only. The chain attatched to his ankle was considerably shorter than Axel's, and Riku doubted he could walk a foot in any direction, but both of his hands were free. And he was holding a chakram.

Roxas looked at his enemy from the corner of his eye. "Riku," he said. It was the only greeting he had ever given him. The only time they had ever talked, ever, had been in the heat of battle, exchanging the customary battle-talk taunts. Both hated fighting the other. There was never any conclusion. It was always broken off somehow. Riku could more than hold his own, but the difference in their abilities was unmistakable.

Roxas had a keyblade, Riku didn't. They both knew that if they were ever to duke it out without interuption, Roxas would win. Which is probably why Riku always found a way to back out of it, all the while keeping Sora safe. It was the biggest obsticle Roxas had to deal with in his mission to defeat Sora. And the most annoying.

Riku's thoughts ran much along the same line, with one addition. Roxas had been about to cut Sora's throat the last time he had seen him. _Had Sora...?_ The thought was too painful. Sora was his best friend. Sora had saved him from a fate far worse than death. Somebody like Sora couldn't be killed by somebody like Roxas. The universe was not so badly designed. Still, a part of him wanted to attack the blond right then and there, end it all.

Roxas smiled, guessing Riku's intent. The silver haired boy hesitated, and Roxas could guess why. He flipped the chakram over in his hands, light from somewhere briefly reflected off of it and the dampness from the fog-like mist created droplets on the metal, dripping off as he turned it. Like blood.

The unspoken message wasn't lost on Riku. It was never a good idea to attack an armed enemy when you didn't have a weapon...and your hands were tied behind your back. Roxas, with his hands free and a weapon that could easilly be used as a projectile, was in the possition of power now.

A high pitched 'la' destroyed the mood. Axel, who had been leaning forward in his eagerness to view this reuinion, sat back, disappointed. The 'la' didn't end, and the clanking of pots being beat together joined in. All three of them grimaced at the racket being made.

"I'd pay real money if he'd shut up," Axel said.

"Is he the one who-" Riku began.

"Yeah," Roxas said, not waiting for him to finish, "he put us here."

Riku tugged at his bonds, "Who is he, anyway?" He wanted to ask where Sora was again, but now that he knew Roxas was around, he thought better of it.

"He's a fruit," Axel replied, "completely off his rocker. A native, or something. Can disappear. Really weird."

_Riiight_. Riku stood up. His hands were tied behind his back, but he wasn't chained like the other two. He walked off.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you."

Axel's warning came too late. Riku was thrown back by an invisible force. He landed on his back in front of Axel, dazed. Axel gave his version of the 'I told you so' comment, and Riku glared at him.

Riku pushed himself into a sitting position once again. "Is there any way out of here?" he said, mostly to himself.

"Not that I could find."

Riku decided to risk it, "And you don't know where Sora is?"

"Nope."

Good. That means Roxas didn't kill him. Roxas shot a glare at Axel, which the red head missed. Riku continued his little interrogation. "And Goofy?"

"No idea."

"...Donald?"

Axel didn't miss the unusual tone in Riku's voice. "Don't know."

"Well you're no help."

Axel shrugged.

The three of them were silent for a long time. An hour might've gone by, maybe a ten minutes, it was hard to tell. Riku, being the only one able to walk freely, checked every area of their cage that he could. There was no exit to it. The force that had thrown him back was present in a complete circle around them. They had maybe ten feet to walk, and that was it. There was nothing in the circle but the fog, the rock Roxas had been chained to, and the damp rock-like floor.

After being thrown back for the thousandth time, Riku gave up. He picked a place that allowed him a view of both Axel and Roxas, and sat down. He changed position often, trying to get comfortable, but the feeling fled from him. The singing was a constant. He felt that if he didn't do something, anything, he would go insane. Axel and Roxas had both, apparantly, found their inner happy place and zoned the noise out. Riku had no such luck. It wasn't long before he was up and pacing back and forth.

Finally, Riku turned to Roxas. Why him and not Axel, Riku couldn't tell. "Roxas," the blond looked over at him, "I need conversation, or I'll go insane."

Roxas gave Riku a 'Do I look like I give a shit?' look.

Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to start it. He tried again, "Do you know anything about all of this?" Roxas remained silent. "Anything?"

Roxas hesitated. He really didn't want to describe what he knew of Red Cloak, and he didn't much care if Riku was ignorant of the entire situation or not. Hell, he'd be doing him a favor by not describing their captor. He, for one, would have nightmares of that red cloaked, purple glasses freak for the rest of his life.

"I know as much as you do," he said.

Riku sighed in frustraition and plopped down on the ground once again.

"He might be cooking the duck," Axel offered, randomly. Riku gave him a strange look. "Hey, you wanted conversation."

"That's not the smell of duck."

"How would you know?"

"Because, I-" Riku stopped. How did he know? Wait a minute, why was he even having this conversation?

"See, you don't know."

"Axel, you're sophmoric."

Roxas couldn't keep the chuckle from escaping him. Riku pretended to not notice. The group began to fall silent once again.

"So, I hear the duck's been hunting you," Axel said. Unlike Roxas, Axel actually had a history with Riku that went beyond battle. They weren't exactly friends, but they didn't always try to kill each other every time they met. They had had a decent conversation about the usefulness of dark portals once...

"Donald," Riku absently corrected. "Yeah. He's been after me for years. Goofy, too, though he's not as obsessed about it."

"You murdered somebody," Axel prodded.

"...Yeah. Sort of...but no." Riku thought he was uncomfortable before. He had a sudden urge to end this conversation.

Axel would have none of that. "Who?"

"I kind of, well, mis-stepped, and, uh..."

"Who?!"

"Never mind. I don't want to talk anymore."

"You'll tell me," Axel said.

"Um. No I won't."

It went on this way for some time. Finally, Axel pulled out his Ace. His voice joined in on the singing.

Now Riku really was going insane. Even Roxas was pissed off. He threw the chakram at Axel, aiming to kill, but no one knew those weapons better than he did, and he caught it like it was nothing. Riku and Roxas both covered their ears. It didn't help much.

"It was Jiminy Cricket, alright!" Riku screamed. Axel fell silent. "We were fighting Sephiroth, he was whispering something in Sora's ear, then he jumped off. Sora was about to be decapitated, I had to push him out of the way, I wasn't looking where I stepped. ALRIGHT?"

Axel gaped like a fish at Riku. Riku shifted uncomfortably on the ground.

Roxas knew what was coming. He put a hand to his head and muttered, "Oh, God."

And then Axel errupted. He just couldn't keep from laughing. Riku was less than amused, and let Axel know that.

"But you stepped...you STEPPED," and here another burst of laughter stopped him from completing his sentence.

Riku would've thrown his hands up if they hadn't been tied behind his back. "It was an accident, alright!"

"That's what makes it so funny!"

"Axel," Roxas cut in, "...shut the hell up."

But of course, he didn't.

* * *

Author's Note - There. See? It was an accident. Riku's not evil. Not in _this_ story. I do feel kind of bad for offing Jiminy, though.

Roxas, on the other hand, makes a _great_ bad guy.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - I shall reveal the reason Roxas hates Sora so much...in a different chapter! cue evil laughter

* * *

Sora sat cross-legged on a large countertop. Red Cloak was sitting across from him, eyes visible through his strang glasses, studying Sora intently. Sora bit his lip. Much depended on Red Cloak's next words.

But Red Cloak was taking his time with it. It seemed he enjoyed torturing Sora. The wait in itself was becoming unbearable. He pulled out a toothpick, which, it might be interesting to note, was a dazzeling shade of purple and shimmered in the light. He toyed with his teeth noncommitally.

Sora could bear it no longer. He had to know... "So," he said anxiously, "which is it?"

Red Cloak put his toothpick down with a sigh. He looked Sora in the eye. And waited. And waited.

"Go fish."

Sora threw down his cards. The game was up. Red Cloak already had the most pairs. There was no winning it. Sora had insisted on continueing solely for the curiosity factor. How _did_ he do that? How!?!

"How do you do that? No one can win twelve games of Go Fish in a row! No one!"

Red Cloak leaned back against a wall. "'Tis the fortune of Lady Green smiles upon me."

Sora scratched at his bandaged neck absently. "Well, I wish she'd smile on me every now and then. Namely now."

Red Cloak smiled. "Lady Lavender favors thou."

Sora didn't miss a beat, "I prefere Lady Navy Blue." He had no clue what he was talking about, of course, but if they're on the subject of Ladies, then darn it, Navy Blue was better than Lavender or Green any day. Duh.

The oddity across from him thought it was hilarious, in any case. He rolled around on the counter, eventually even falling on the floor, and still continued to laugh. Sora shrugged. Must've said something funny.

"Say," Sora interrupted. Red Cloak calmed down some and wiped tears from his eyes. "Would you be willing to tell me...uh," and here Sora stopped. He rubbed the back of his head with one hand, elbow jutting out to the side, unsure if he should continue.

"Say it, Youngster from the Reef," Red Cloak encouraged. Sora laughed half-heartedly at the nickname. Red Cloak had given it to him upon learning he was really, and in all actuality, a boy, and not a 'fair princess.' Red Cloak didn't understand why Sora had been so angry at the misunderstanding.

"Well," Sora said, "I want to know where my friends are."

Red Cloak's face grew dark. "Witches and vagabonds. They shall be hanged on the morrow." He stood up and dusted himself, suddenly very serious. "And their little dog, too."

Sora couldn't help himself, "Hey! What'd the little dog ever do to you!?"

Oh, how Sora regretted asking that question. Red Cloak immediately went into the injustice of dogs being allowed to roam free in the world, how skates were really demon made and should be banished, and how ropework was, contrary to popular belief, from the West Indies and not all that wholesome to chew.

When it was all over, Red Cloak calmed down enough to notice Sora looking to the floor and rubbing his temples. He inserted an appropriate comment, something about teething, and Sora responded that he was okay, don't worry about him.

"Well, good," Red Cloak said bouncily, "I'm off to the bonfire," and he walked out the door.

"The bonfire?" Sora repeated, but Red Cloak had already left. Sora was unsure of what to do. This was the first time in their three hours together that Red Cloak had left him alone. He pushed himself off the counter, landing silently on the floor in his bare feet. Red Cloak had left the rest of his outfit alone, but had taken away his shoes and socks. Said they were made by grimlins. Whatever. He took a few steps to test his strength. Red Cloak had done a good job bandaging him up, but face it, it takes more than three hours for wounds like the ones he sported to stop feeling sore. And it had been three hours, hadn't it? The clock on the wall was evidence of the passage of time, but Sora had trouble believing it was acurate. It was a Dora the Explorer clock, after all. Not that he ever watched that show as a kid, or anything...

Confident that he was strong enough to walk, but feeling the need to tip-toe, Sora made his way to the doorway. Red Cloak had left it open, and Sora got his first look at the outside world.

Mist. Nothing but a strange mist, fog like and thick as pea soup, in all directions. It moved and parted when he put a foot onto the damp ground. He took a few tenative steps. The door slammed shut behind him, causing him to jump and look back at it in alarm. He tried the handle, but it wouldn't budge. Sora frowned. He found the whole scenario reminisent of a cliche horror movie. Reminding himself that he was the Keybearer, albeit a rather keyless one, Sora squared his shoulders and moved into the mist.

* * *

"Steve!" 

"Harry!"

"Tony!"

Donald's lower beak dropped. Just how many of these guys were there, anyway? Green cloak, yellow cloak, and now red cloak...was there any end? Would it ever stop? Still, this Red Cloak seemed different. For one, Donald was sure he'd seen him before, sitting next to Namine when Roxas had kept him from going after Riku. And another thing, he actually had a physical form. Green and Yellow were faded...ghost like...see-through. It was very unnerving.

Donald eyed the newcomer suspiciously. There was something very odd about him.

Aside from the appearance of the man, that is. The faded duo looked almost exactly like him, aside from the color of their robes, and they weren't nearly as alarming. The mere presence of the man spoke of power, despite how silly he was behaving, doing a headstand and declaring his name. A name, Donald noted, that he changed often.

"Loyyd! No...Fredrick! Aha, I have it. SUSAN!"

Now silly Donald could understand. He was used to silly. _He_ was silly by nature, though he'd never admit it. Silly was fine. He glanced over at his friend, who had assumed an identical position as Red Cloak, and was trying to avoid stepping on his ears with his hands. His hat, for reasons unknown, appeared immune to the effects of gravity, and refused to fall off even when it was squished to the side of its owner's head. The knight tried, he really did, but headstands were not his forte. He fell on his rear, laughing good-naturedly.

Goofy and silly were synonymous.

Green Cloak and Yellow Cloak had already declared their names. Steve and Tony, if all was to be believed. Donald had a feeling they were just as serious about _their_ names as Red Cloak was about _his_. It was best to go by color here.

Goofy, undetered by his failure to mimic the actions of the other three, joined in the game anyway. "Goofy!" he said, declaring his name like the other three just did.

Everyone turned to Donald.

_Uh, no._

"Ahm not gonna!" he quacked.

"Ahm not gonna!" everyone else quacked.

The duck was not amused. Everyone else was in stitches. Goofy caught sight of the look in Donald's eyes, and quickly shut up. He found the nearest solid object and hid behind it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Just in time.

Donald had a angry breakdown. He thrashed around wildly, randomly grabbing onto things and ripping them to shreds. Smart people would've gotten out of the way like Goofy did. Everyone else gathered around, popcorn in hand, and watched in fascination.

Red Cloak sent a questioning gaze to his comrads, a 'does he do this often' look. He had just recently arrived, and hadn't viewed Donalds previous breakdowns, which were frequent and could be counted on at least once every ten minutes.

Yellow Cloak answered with an emphatic nod of his head. Green Cloak joined in. And then Red Cloak decided to. They all nodded their heads with passion for about ten minutes. Donald had ended his little spasm by that time, and sat glaring at them with crossed arms and angry blood shot eyes.

Escape was impossible. He had found that out the hard way. Run away and they chased after you, but not only that. Oh, no. They had decided to use him as a golf ball of sorts, hitting him around with their glittering rods till they got him back to this stupid spot.

_And that stupid music_. The 'music' aka the singing Riku and Co. heard was, in fact, a recording. Or rather, it was something like a recording. From what Donald could see, it was coming from a singing rock, -yes, a _singing rock_- and kept repeating itself every half hour or so.

_And that stupid stove that doesn't cook any stupid food_. It was more like a grill, really, and although it wasn't doing any cooking, it put off plenty of smoke.

_It doesn't make any stupid sense_. It didn't.

Goofy was well aware of his partner's mood, and although he didn't want to make it any worse, he couldn't help enjoying himself. They played all sorts of fun games together. At that very moment they were all making snow angels on the ground.

Donald's eye twitched. You can't make snow angels on rock.

* * *

Sora wasn't one to get discouraged, but after walking around aimlessly with nothing in sight for what felt like a long time he felt his optimism begin to waver. It came back with a vengence with one simple thought. 

_Hey, it's better than spiders_.

A grin spread across his face. No spiders, no sandpits. No suffication, no Kai...

He stopped himself short, the grin disappearing. No Kairi? There was always Kairi. And...

Was he really _that_ glad she wasn't here? Now? Standing in front of him?

The thought threatened to overwhelm him, and his gaze wandered upward, looking for relief. Stars. The mist did nothing to hide them. Their light shined through and reflected in his eyes. It was the one constant in his life, the one thing he could look to and know it'd be there for him. Wherever he was, whatever world he visited, there were always the stars. Sure, sometimes it would be rainy, and sometimes the stars couldn't pierce the choking smog of the cities, but they were there nonetheless. Out of sight, not out of existence.

Sora pursed his lips. Well, they were not the only constant, persay. There was always Riku. He was always there for him. Hey, if he had one munny for every time Riku had saved him...he'd have a lot of munny.

_Do you know what my constant was, Sora?_

Sora's mouth went dry. _Kairi..._ He shook his head, trying to get rid of her voice. Guilt drove him to his knees before she even finished her thought.

_It was you_.

* * *

"Your weapon," Larxene spat, "is lame." 

"I could care less about your opinion."

Larxene crossed her arms, angry at how easily he had pushed aside her jibe. It was supposed to hurt, dammit! He should hurt!

Zexion was far from hurt; however, he was annoyed. It was hard for him to keep his face stoic. He hated this woman. Why did Kairi feel the need to team him up with her? He shook the thought from his mind. Kairi had told him to do it, so she must have a good reason. Mortals had no place questioning gods.

"I'm your superior in this mission, and you WILL respec-"

"Shh, someone's coming."

The anger inside of Larxene died away instead of bubbling up, and not by any will of her own. Someone was coming, but that had nothing to do with it, either. Zexion had 'shhed' her, and angry as a part of her was about it, she had a strong urge to jump him right there. Have her way with him. Zexion, blissfully unaware of her thoughts, was saved by the coming of the 'someone' previously mentioned.

It was Sora.

"Jackpot," Larxene smirked, thoughts of her and Zexion and some time alone were pushed from her mind...for the moment. "Let's kill him." Sora was barely visible in the haze, but the spikey hair was a dead giveaway. He stopped some distance away and looked up to the stars. As they crept closer, the image of him became clearer. The mist itself was proving good cover, but it was unneeded. Sora was so immersed in his own thoughts, he didn't even hear them coming. Zexion put a hand on Larxene's shoulder to stop her. Now that he had a good look at the boy, he thought for sure there was some sort of misunderstanding.

"That's him?" Zexion asked, confused.

Larxene glared at him. "Yes, that's him. I know, he's small, but trust me...he's stronger than he looks."

Zexion was shaking his head in disbelief.

"If you don't believe me you can try to fight him by yourself."

"It's not that. It's just..."

Larxene gave him a quizical look.

"Nevermind."

She snorted. The time for talking was over. With a shake of her arms, eight deadly knives appeared, four in each hand, small but deadly missiles resting comfortably in between her fingers. One would be enough. She let it loose with a flick of her wrist.

* * *

Author's Note - Hope you enjoyed it. Constructive critisism is appreciated. I intend to update once a week from here on out, so the chapters ought to be longer from this point on. 


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer - I do not own Kingdom Hearts. This is made by a fan for fans. No money is being made.

* * *

Author's Note - The end of the story draws near. A few more chapters, and it'll be done. That being said, I think I've got the Point of View thing down. Maybe.

* * *

Sora fell to his knees, hands covering each ear. Zexion squinted his eyes to get a better view. It looked like he was trying to keep his head from exploding. Zexion shrugged. Whatever the case, the kid had fallen just in time. Larxene's dagger whizzed by above him, disappearing in the mist.

"You missed," Zexion loved to point out the obvious. Larxene shot him a vicious look.

"I can see that."

_And she called my weapon lame. She can't even aim hers._ He wisely decided not to voice his thoughts. She would either get angry with him, or make a remark about his 'weapon.' Bile rose in his throat when he realized just how well he knew this woman.

It wasn't a pleasant thought. He turned his attention back to Sora. He seemed to have recovered, and was just getting up again, when, of a sudden, a duck ran into him. The white feathered animal was strong enough to bowl Sora, nearly twice its size, over completely.

A duck.

To Zexion's credit, his mouth didn't drop open.

"Is that Donald?" Larxene asked.

"What?" It was a legitimit question, granted it could have been phrased differently. 'Excuse me Larxene, but did you just insinuate that a duck could have a name?' would have been better. As it stands, Zexion was a bit dumb about the situation, and his question came out accordingly.

"I'm not talking to you," the blond snapped.

Zexion hmphed. Larxene ignored him.

"_The_ Donald?"

Zexion kept from rolling his eyes. He was convinced of it now. He must be dreaming. Or hallucinating. Or both, if that was possible. Not only did the duck have a name...

It was famous.

What did he eat before going to sleep? He pinched himself. Ouch. Nope, not asleep. So, maybe Larxene drugged him? It was possible...

She noticed his suspicious side-long glance. "What?"

"I'm onto you."

"Honey, you will be."

_God Almighty_.

* * *

Donald gave himself a mental pat on the back for his ingenious idea. He was actually beginning to understand these insane people and their insane ways. It took a bit of will-power, and a great deal of humility, which was not one of his natural personality traits, but the Mage of Disney Castle had swallowed his pride.

He had played their games.

After a few rounds of Go Fish, which Red Cloak was insanely good at, Donald had opted for other games. Gain their trust, and such, you know. Donald didn't want to think back on the other games they had played. After the torture, er, fun, was done, they had sat down around the grill and began, as Red Cloak put it, a religious ceremony.

They made him eat worms.

He was very chummy about it. _Not on your life, buddy! _And took it all in stride. _Ahm not gonna! Ahm not gonna!_ When it was all over, they put a miniature blue cloak on him, and declared him part of their tribe. Goofy got an orange cloak, and he got his without a 'test on his loyalty,' aka, eating worms. Donald hadn't spoken to the floopy-eared dumbo since.

Once he was part of their tribe he had the right, according to Red Cloak's Rules of Ever-changing Origin and Blueberrie Pie, to pick a new game to play. Donald had rubbed his hands together evilly with a quacky cackle. "Follow the leader," he had said, and immediately declared himself the leader. And. It. Worked.

Now he could wander around this foggy wasteland at whim! Now...where was he going?

He stopped and looked around from side to side. Nothing left...nothing right...The band of Cloaks behind him halted in their tracks and inquired where their fearless leader might take them on this daring voyage across the unknown realm. Goofy yupped.

"Uh, this way!" Donald quickly pointed to the left and began walking. The group followed behind him, but then he saw something to the right. A spikey-haired something.

"Why that big Palooka!" Donald was off like a shot.

* * *

The air was knocked out of Sora's lungs. He _hated_ when that happened. Bad memories were associated with that. And it hurt!

"How could you of left us like that!" the ball of feathers on top of him demanded. The accusation held absolutely no truth in it. Sora didn't leave them. Technically, _they_ left _him_, but he wasn't about to bring that up.

"Geez, Donald, I'm sorry."

Donald's features softened considerably. Sora had no idea what was going through the duck's mind. In fact, he might be out of his mind if he really checked his anger that easily. The duck was litterally mad or acting mad almost all the time.

Goofy came walking up, the mist parting before him. "Hiya, Sora!"

"Goofy!" Sora called excitedly. He had been worrying about them both for over three hours now, scared they would be 'hanged on the morrow' or whatever Red Cloak had said. Speaking of Red Cloak...

There he was right now, walking ahead of Goofy. And...Yellow Cloak? And Green Cloak? They both stood on either side of Goofy, an arm slung around each of his shoulders like the best of buds. Yellow and Green were both see-through, like ghosts.

_Well, that's weird_.

Sora did a double take. Goofy was wearing a cloak, too! And DONALD!?! How had that happened, he would like to know. Oh, boy, he would like to know. This was black-mail material right here.

"We have arrived, an escort for this young lady," Red Cloak announced, motioning to Goofy, "and her dog," and here he motioned to Donald, who looked about ready to tear the man's head off.

"Red Cloak," Sora began, studying Yellow and Green intensely.

"Steven Harry Henry the third," Red Cloak corrected.

Sora didn't even try repeating that. "I didn't know you had family."

Donald's beak dropped. "You're friends with him!?!

Red Cloak answered Sora as if Donald had never spoken. Then again, he might've been speaking to Donald...who knows. "If I choose to move to the right or to the left, it's none of your business."

Sora failed to descipher that one. Donald had graciously allowed him to stand up, so he took the opportunity. "Is Riku anywhere around here?"

"Haven't seen him," Donald said, disappointment evident in his voice.

Red Cloak tilted his head.

"Uh...Princess with White Hair," Sora clarified.

"Aha. The One who Stomps on Conscience."

Donald found, to his surprise, that he under stood that one, "How did you-"

Sora saw it coming. He moved quickly to tackle Donald out of the way. Him tackle Donald? Oh the irony.

Donald was rather upset. "Whad'ya do that for?" The rest of his complaints died on his lips...er, bill. Sora wasn't the only one who had acted. They were a team once, after all. Goofy had jumped in front of Donald, shield held ready.

The dagger clanked against the metal and fell harmlessly to the ground. Grumbling could be heard in the distance; all three looked toward it. Nothing was there. Not that they could see anyway. The grumbling stopped abruptly.

Sora's eyes didn't leave the spot the voice had come from. Someone was out there, that much was obvious. He spoke to his friends, "We should find Riku and leave." Donald shook his head vigorously in agreement. Sora's face showed concern. This whole 'bring Riku to justice' thing was, perhaps, the most stressful thing in his life. Besides the whole Kairi wanting to kill him and sending lackies to do the job thing.

Sora sighed. That's all he needed. King Mickey to put Riku in the gummie jail for fifty years. Or, worse yet, the gummie chair. Sora gringed.

He'd be slimed.

* * *

"You'll be slimed! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Riku frowned. Axel was cracking himself up. He was on the ground right now, twisting and turning every which way, every bit the laughing fool.

Roxas fought to keep his smile at bay. It _was_ rather funny, though he was smart enough not to say so out loud. Axel would never stop then. Still, the red head had a point. Death in Disney Castle meant being encased in slime for eternity, and the word eternity is used lightly, so that the slime would come pouring in from all sides of the gummie chair and encase the villian's body. With a push of a button the slime would solidify, and there you would be. Alive. Trapped.

Slimed.

Roxas had to bite his lip. Must not laugh. Must not laugh.

Riku caught Roxas's failing attempts and rolled his eyes. He made to hide his face in his hands, but stopped himself, too proud to hide. He stubbornly grabbed at the sides of his pants to keep his hands from acting against his whim, which was just as well for Axel as it was for Riku. Roxas thought he might attack his friend at any moment. Axel, rolling around like an idiot, was oblivious to Riku's death glare.

So, it came as somewhat of a surprise when Axel suddenly stopped. He jumped to his feet immediately and looked to the sky. "She's coming."

Roxas was surprised himself, but only for a moment. He could feel it himself now, and felt just a bit jealous that Axel sensed it first. He smiled dryly. For some reason their sense of darkness hadn't left them when they landed. Pfft. It was unusual for the power to sense darkness to remain...but it wasn't really a power was it? It was an instinct.

Riku, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on. He tensed at Axel's strange behavior. "Who's coming?" he asked.

Roxas smiled. "You already know." He tried to catch Riku's facial reaction to this, but Riku turned his face away from him.

The area grew cold unexpectedly, and the mist within their little cage disappeared. They could see each other clearly for a few seconds, and then the darkness came. Roxas could see the stars slowly disappearing with a power that he would normally have control over. Darkness. But as with his keyblades, his ability to control darkness faded as soon as he stepped on this planet. He couldn't even summon a dark portal to leave. Axel and Namine had both used them to get here, but leaving the same way was quite impossible. No magic was usable here. Not black, not white. Still, whether he could control it or not, he certainly exuded a certain amount of it. He and Axel both did, in small amounts. But this darkness...it couldn't be magic, and that meant someone was coming. Someone who's dark aura was strong enough to block out the stars.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Riku said. He still wasn't looking at him, Roxas noted. His silver bangs hung over his eyes.

The darkness became more profound. It was hard to see at all now. Roxas turned away from Riku and smiled.

Axel was smiling, too, though his was considerably less ominous than Roxas's. "You'll see."

* * *

No he wouldn't. It was too freaking dark. The kind of dark where your eyes become all but useless and your other senses kick in to compensate. The speed with which it had fallen over the entire area left no room to hide from it.

Not like one can hide from the dark anyway.

Riku shook his head and got over it. He was no stranger to the dark, in more ways than one. A monster had injured his eyes once, almost completely blinding him, and no amount of curega could heal the injury. He had needed an elixer, but none were to be found. He had to go blindfolded for months before he and Sora were able to restock their supplies from a store selling the precious, and ridiculously expensive, potion. That, coupled with the experience of his previous profession, led him to a decision.

It would be all too easy...minus the hands tied behind the back thing...and the fact that minion one and minion two could practically see in the dark. Damn complications.

Axel was looking away when it happened. Needless to say, the pyro was peeved when he suddenly notice the lack of weight in his coat. Riku had taken the chakram cleanly, almost without notice, but Axel was already on guard when it came to his weapon, and kicked out savagely at the thief. Riku took it with a pained grunt, and used Axel's own kick to help him roll out of harm's way. Axel realized his mistake too late.

Riku had been the only way able to walk around the entire cage, and still was. He positioned himself well out of Axel's reach. Riku smiled smuggly, and Axel sneered at him, an expression he knew Riku couldn't see. It was too dark. She was almost here...Riku would have no way to escape.

But then Riku did something quite unexpected.

"Dispell," he said, uttering the magical word to dispell the invisible force field keeping him from freedom.

Even more unexpected: it worked.

* * *

Author's Note - Riku...slimed. XD Oh, don't laugh, it's morbid, not funny. You people, you. 


End file.
